U.S. Northern Command Demonstrates Its Arctic Defense Playbook Against High-End Threats to America.

U.S. Northern Command has demonstrated a layered air-and-land defense architecture in Alaska, combining F-35s, F-16s, aerial refueling, HIMARS precision fires, ground radar and Arctic-trained troops during Operation TUNDRA MERLIN near Nome. Announced by USNORTHCOM on August 6, 2026, the exercise showed how U.S. forces could detect, intercept and strike high-end threats across the vast northern approaches to North America.

The operation synchronized F-35s with HIMARS against a simulated target about 135 miles away while F-16s rehearsed defensive counterair against F-35s acting as inbound threats. By linking fighter aircraft, mobile long-range fires, sensors and tanker-supported reach, TUNDRA MERLIN demonstrated a more distributed Arctic defense model designed to close operational gaps and rapidly concentrate combat power across Alaska’s austere terrain.

Related Topic: Alaska Emerges as America’s Arctic Combat Shield as U.S. Forces Train for Sustained High North Operations

U.S. NORTHCOM demonstrated a layered Arctic homeland-defense concept in Alaska by integrating F-35s, F-16s, aerial refueling, HIMARS precision fires, radar, and Arctic-trained ground forces against simulated high-end threats (Picture Source: U.S. Northern Command / U.S. Department of War / Edited By Army Recognition Group)

On August 6, 2026, the United States demonstrated an integrated air-and-land combat architecture over Alaska as the Arctic becomes an increasingly contested strategic approach to North America. During Operation TUNDRA MERLIN near Nome on Aug. 4 and 6, U.S. forces combined fifth- and fourth-generation fighters, aerial refueling, mobile long-range precision fires, ground-based radar and Arctic-trained Soldiers in a single mission designed to detect, track and defeat simulated threats against the homeland. Announced by U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), the operation offers a significant indication of how Washington intends to prevent the vast northern approaches from becoming an exploitable operational seam in North American defenses.

Building an Integrated Air-Land Defense Architecture in the High North

The operation brought together two F-35 Lightning II aircraft, two F-16 Fighting Falcons and a KC-135 Stratotanker from Eielson Air Force Base, alongside an M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) deployed from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, an AN/TPQ-53 radar and Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 11th Airborne Division. Operating under the command and control of USNORTHCOM and Alaskan Command, combat crews exercised offensive counterair, defensive counterair, long-range precision fires and aerial refueling in one integrated mission. Rather than demonstrating individual platforms in isolation, TUNDRA MERLIN tested the ability to layer complementary combat effects across service and domain boundaries, a central requirement for defending an Arctic operating environment characterized by enormous distances, limited infrastructure and demanding sustainment requirements.

The geography of the mission is particularly relevant. Following aerial refueling from the KC-135, fighter aircraft advanced toward the vicinity of Saint Lawrence Island, placing the air component toward the Bering Sea approaches on the western edge of Alaska. In this environment, the tanker is far more than a supporting asset: aerial refueling extends fighter reach, persistence and response options across immense distances where aircraft operating solely from established bases would face substantial endurance constraints. By combining the F-35's fifth-generation capabilities with F-16 defensive counterair and tanker-supported range extension, the United States demonstrated its ability to rapidly project combat airpower toward one of North America's most strategically sensitive northern approaches.

F-35 and HIMARS Synchronization Expands Cross-Domain Strike Options

One of TUNDRA MERLIN's most significant events was the synchronization of F-35s with an M142 HIMARS to successfully engage a simulated target approximately 135 miles away. The importance of the event extends beyond the engagement distance itself. Coordinating fifth-generation airpower with mobile Army precision fires requires commanders to synchronize targeting, timing, airspace management, command and control and cross-domain effects, precisely the type of operational seam that Alaskan Command says the exercise was intended to eliminate. USNORTHCOM has not disclosed which platform initially detected or designated the target, what targeting network was employed, what munition was represented, or whether information passed directly from an F-35 to the HIMARS launcher. The event should therefore not be portrayed as confirmation of a direct F-35-to-HIMARS sensor-to-shooter kill chain. What it does demonstrate is the increasingly important concept of giving a joint commander multiple options for delivering precision effects against a target rather than relying on a single service or firing domain.

The ground component reinforces another important lesson from the exercise: Arctic homeland defense is also a mobility and force-posture problem. Photographs released with the operation identified the HIMARS as assigned to the 17th Long Range Fires and Effects Brigade, with Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Mobile Brigade Combat Team (Air Assault), 11th Airborne Division, providing security alongside the HIMARS and AN/TPQ-53. According to USNORTHCOM, the deployment demonstrated the joint force's ability to rapidly move and seamlessly integrate combat equipment and personnel across the Arctic. HIMARS provides a highly mobile long-range precision-fires capability capable of rapidly displacing after firing, while the AN/TPQ-53 supplies a deployable radar capability principally associated with counterfire detection and tracking. Together with Arctic-trained infantry, such systems demonstrate how the U.S. Army can establish mobile sensing, security and fires nodes in areas where permanent military infrastructure may be limited. USNORTHCOM did not disclose the Q-53's specific contribution to the simulated engagement, however, so its precise role in the mission's targeting architecture remains unknown.

F-16s Train Against a Fifth-Generation Inbound Threat

Perhaps the most revealing element of TUNDRA MERLIN was its defensive counterair scenario, in which F-16 Fighting Falcons intercepted F-35s acting as simulated inbound threats. The configuration gave fourth-generation fighter crews a demanding target presentation represented by an aircraft possessing fifth-generation low-observable characteristics, advanced sensors and sophisticated mission systems. This is especially significant because Eielson's 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron operates F-16s specifically to provide aerospace control for homeland-defense missions across the Alaskan theater, including support to the Alaskan NORAD Region extending into the Arctic. Using F-35s as opposing aircraft therefore exposes homeland-defense crews to a more challenging simulated threat and allows them to rehearse intercept geometry, command-and-control procedures and defensive counterair tactics relevant to increasingly sophisticated airborne threats. The event does not, however, prove that an F-16 independently detected or tracked a low-observable F-35 using only its onboard sensors; NORTHCOM disclosed no information concerning external cueing, radar support, emissions, aircraft configuration, engagement geometry or the tactics employed. What is significant is that the United States deliberately placed fourth- and fifth-generation fighters on opposing sides of an Arctic homeland-defense scenario.

The exercise also has a notable real-world parallel. On February 19, 2026, NORAD detected two Russian Tu-95 bombers, two Su-35 fighters and an A-50 airborne early-warning and control aircraft operating inside the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. NORAD responded by launching two F-16s, two F-35s, one E-3 and four KC-135s to intercept, positively identify and escort the Russian aircraft until they departed the ADIZ. The Russian formation remained in international airspace, did not violate U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace and was not assessed by NORAD as a threat. Nevertheless, the comparison is operationally instructive: several of the same aircraft categories exercised during TUNDRA MERLIN, F-16s, F-35s and KC-135s, have already been used together during actual aerospace-control missions around Alaska. TUNDRA MERLIN effectively expanded that familiar air-defense architecture by adding Army long-range precision fires, deployable radar and ground maneuver forces, creating a broader cross-domain homeland-defense package.

Arctic Deterrence Moves Toward a Layered Joint-Force Model

This comes as the Arctic assumes greater weight in U.S. defense planning. The U.S. Department of War's Arctic Strategy calls for stronger domain awareness, enhanced Joint Force Arctic capabilities and the ability to rapidly monitor and respond to military activity in the region. Washington has also highlighted continuing Russian military investment in the High North and expanding cooperation between Russia and China, including military activity near Alaska. Seen in that wider context, TUNDRA MERLIN is more than an isolated readiness exercise: it represents the practical application of a strategy built around integrated deterrence, operational agility, distributed combat capability and credible presence along the northern approaches to North America.

Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, commander of Alaskan Command, the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and Eleventh Air Force, said TUNDRA MERLIN demonstrated an integrated joint force capable of “layering effects across the air and land domains” while synchronizing command and control, airpower and long-range precision fires. That ultimately defines the strategic message of the operation. The United States is demonstrating that the enormous distances, austere terrain and sparse infrastructure of the High North will not automatically translate into exploitable gaps in North American defenses. By combining fifth-generation airpower, F-16 defensive counterair forces, aerial refueling, mobile precision fires, deployable radar, Arctic-trained Soldiers and joint command and control, Washington is steadily transforming the Arctic from a potential operational seam into a defended and increasingly integrated approach to the U.S. homeland, one designed to detect threats early, rapidly concentrate combat power and impose credible consequences on any adversary attempting aggression across the High North.

Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group

Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.

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