{"id":39541,"date":"2018-05-25T12:30:56","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T02:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=39541"},"modified":"2018-05-25T11:56:39","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T01:56:39","slug":"our-new-era-in-polar-endeavour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/our-new-era-in-polar-endeavour\/","title":{"rendered":"Our new era in polar endeavour"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s a game changer. In the next few years, there\u2019ll be year-round access to our polar real estate.<\/p>\n

Last Friday the Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced that we\u2019re going to build the first paved runway in Antarctica<\/a> at Davis station, our southernmost Antarctic research station.<\/p>\n

Davis is currently accessible only during the Austral summer by icebreaker or by internal flights using small aircraft. It\u2019s much closer to Australia\u2019s principal area of scientific work than is Casey Station.<\/p>\n

Our Antarctic ice runway at Wilkins Aerodrome, which was opened 10\u00a0years ago near Casey Station, is accessible only in summer. The new runway will be 1,400\u00a0kilometres from Australia\u2019s first intercontinental ice runway at Wilkins Aerodrome. The runway will be 2,700\u00a0metres<\/a>, the length required by long-range airliners like Boeing\u2019s\u00a0777 and\u00a0787, or an\u00a0A330.<\/p>\n

The Royal Australian Air Force could also be part of the action. The Australian Antarctic Division started joint operational missions with a C\u201117A in\u00a02015\u2014the first time the RAAF had flown missions to the Australian Antarctic Territory since 1963. The C\u201117A has since flown 19\u00a0missions to Wilkins Aerodrome<\/a>, transporting large cargo.<\/p>\n

The RAAF\u2019s C\u201117A Globemaster\u00a0III can reach Davis with refuelling, and this was in fact done last September. The aircraft was refuelled by a KC\u201130A Multi Role Tanker Transport during the mission, the first time Australia has conducted air-to-air refuelling over the sub-Antarctic<\/a> region.<\/p>\n

The US Air Force also operates C\u201117s between Christchurch and Pegasus Field near McMurdo Station. While the Antarctic Treaty prevents the militarisation of Antarctica it doesn\u2019t prevent the use of military aircraft or ships to provide logistics support.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s new paved airstrip will be in the Vestfold Hills region of East Antarctica, approximately six kilometres from Davis research station. \u2018The new runway will provide more reliable access to Antarctica throughout the year, improving our ability to conduct year-round, world-class scientific research and respond to emergencies,\u2019 Josh Frydenberg pointed out.<\/p>\n

Most importantly the new runway will allow for cooperation with teams from other countries conducting research on the frozen continent. Those include teams from China, Russia and India who have bases nearby and that might also want to use the runway.<\/p>\n

The Turnbull government says the new runway is to support science<\/a> rather being designed for tourism. It should be noted that the tourism issue was raised when the Wilkins runway opened in\u00a02008. The Wilkins runway was also intended to support science research, and there hasn\u2019t been a great influx of tourists since it opened.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good news for Hobart. Frydenberg pointed out that the establishment of a permanent link between Hobart and Antarctica \u2018will make it a more attractive destination for Antarctic nations to base their operations in Tasmania\u2019. A detailed business case is now being drawn up, including an examination of potential designs for the paved runway.<\/p>\n

But not everyone\u2019s cheering. According to the Humane Society International\u2019s<\/a> adviser on Antarctic policy, Alistair Graham:<\/p>\n

The Antarctic Treaty\u2019s Madrid Protocol on environmental protection designates Antarctica as a \u2018natural reserve, devoted to peace and science\u2019 and establishes that \u2018protection of the environment shall be a fundamental consideration in the planning and conduct of all activities in the Antarctic\u2019\u2026 a paved runway in Antarctica is not only a breach of these fundamental treaty obligations but also a distressing breach of faith with those of us in the Australian community who have supported past governments\u2014of all persuasions\u2014as good and honourable custodians of Antarctica.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While the site for the runway has been carefully selected to avoid any sensitive areas, Minister Frydenberg has promised a rigorous environmental assessment of the project to meet federal environmental laws, such as the Antarctic Treaty (Environment Protection) Act 1980<\/em> and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act<\/em> 1999<\/em>, as well as the requirements of the Madrid Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty. There was a two year investigation into the best site.<\/p>\n

The announcement last week is in line with the 2014\u00a0Press Review on our strategic interests in Antarctica<\/a> and the Australian government\u2019s Australian Antarctic Strategy and 20 Year Action Plan<\/a>, released in April 2016, to lift our presence down south.<\/p>\n

The action plan has already seen new commitments such as rebuilding the research station<\/a> on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island and the commissioning of a new icebreaker<\/a> ship, RSV Nuyina. New Antarctic science funding<\/a> was announced in the recent budget.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth noting that the claim that\u2019s sometimes made that China now has a greater presence and greater capacity than us in the east Antarctic sector of our Antarctic territory is looking even more misleading. Our Antarctic program is larger than China\u2019s<\/a>, whether we look at people on the ground, logistics, scientific infrastructure, programmed scientific research, or seasonal and year-round presence.<\/p>\n

The Davis runway is still a few years away, and it won\u2019t be a panacea to all the challenges of Antarctic logistics. But the announcement of the first paved runway in Antarctica increases Australia\u2019s polar capability and supports the long-term objective of ensuring that we\u2019re the partner of choice in east Antarctica.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a game changer. In the next few years, there\u2019ll be year-round access to our polar real estate. Last Friday the Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":39542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[199],"class_list":["post-39541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-antarctica"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOur new era in polar endeavour | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/our-new-era-in-polar-endeavour\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our new era in polar endeavour | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s a game changer. 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