North America’s Arctic radar shield is due for an upgrade
Canada and the United States have not yet worked out how to modernise the missile-defence system
THE VAST spheres rest on a desolate ridge at Cape Kiglapait in Labrador, one atop a tower and two others on the ground like a toppled snowman abandoned by giants. Each is a radome enclosing radar antennae that spew invisible waves across the Labrador sea. They are the electromechanical sentries of the Arctic. Strung across the northern fringes of Canadian territory from Labrador to Yukon, then into Alaska, the Kiglapait station and its many siblings form a picket line known as the North Warning System, or NWS (see map).
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Eyes in the ice”
From the July 31st 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Entrevista con Javier Milei, presidente de Argentina
Transcripción de su encuentro con nuestro corresponsal
An interview with Javier Milei, Argentina’s president
A transcript of his meeting with our journalist
Mexico and Canada brace for Donald Trump’s tariff thrashing
Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Justin Trudeau are taking different approaches to looming trade war
Javier Milei, free-market revolutionary
Argentina’s president explains how he has overturned the old economic order
Is Uruguay too stable for its own good?
The new president must deal with serious problems with growth, education and crime
Bolsonaro’s bid to regain Brazil’s presidency may end in prison
Brazilian police have accused some of his backers of involvement not just in a coup, but in an assassination plot