Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

has never been permanently settled by humans, there has historically been little military activity in the Antarctic. The

Antarctic Treaty The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of A ...

, which came into effect on June 23, 1961, bans military activity from the continent. Military personnel and equipment may only be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purposes, such as delivering supplies. The Antarctic Treaty specifically prohibits military activity on land or

ice shelves An ice shelf is a large platform of glacial ice floating on the ocean, fed by one or multiple tributary glaciers. Ice shelves form along coastlines where the ice thickness is insufficient to Displacement (fluid), displace the more dense surround ...

below 60°S. While the use of

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...

is absolutely prohibited, the Treaty does not apply to naval activity within these bounds (in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

) so long as it takes place on the

high seas The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regiona ...

Notable operations

Military forces from many countries have provided support to scientific expeditions and bases in Antarctica. Notable operations and expeditions have included: * Commander James Cook's second voyage (

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, 1773) * USS ''Vincennes surveys of Antarctica (

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 1839 and 1840) * In February 1941 the German auxiliary cruiser ''Komet'' patrolled the

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who ...

and Antarctic coastline in an unsuccessful search for Allied

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

s * Operation Tabarin (United Kingdom, 1944–45) *

Operation Highjump Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America (exploration b ...

(United States, 1946–47) * Base Soberanía (

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, 1947) *

Operation Windmill Operation Windmill (OpWml) was the United States Navy's Second Antarctica Developments Project, an exploration and training mission to Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost enti ...

(United States, 1947–48) * Base O'Higgins (

, 1948) * The Australian auxiliary HMAS ''Wyatt Earp'' made an unsuccessful voyage to Antarctica in 1948. * Base González Videla (

, 1951) *

Hope Bay incident The Hope Bay incident occurred in February 1952 at Hope Bay, Antarctica, Hope Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula. It involved an Argentine Navy, Argentine naval party from a nearby onshore base and a British landing party from the survey ship ''HMNZS E ...

and Deception Island incident (confrontations between Argentine and British military forces, 1952-53) * Base Aguirre Cerda (

, 1955) *

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze is the code name for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There was an init ...

(United States, 1955–present) * Operación 90 (

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, 1965) * Base Presidente Frei (

, 1980) * Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, 1984) * Operación Estrella Polar (

, 1984) * Operación Aurora Austral (

, 1996) * Estación Parodi (

, 1999) * Expedición Hielo I (

, 2002) * Expedición Hielo II (

, 2004) * In January 2006, a

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

P-3K Orion maritime patrol aircraft conducted a trial flight to and from Pegasus Airfield near

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is ...

to determine the feasibility of conducting patrols from Antarctica in support of the

Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, also known as the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and CCAMLR, is part of the Antarctic Treaty System. The convention was opened for s ...

. RNZAF P-3Ks have regularly conducted flights to and from Antarctica since this successful trial. * Operation Southern Discovery (Australia)

Potential for future conflicts

John Keegan Sir John Desmond Patrick Keegan (15 May 1934 – 2 August 2012) was an English military historian, lecturer, author and journalist. He wrote many published works on the nature of combat between prehistory and the 21st century, covering land, ...

and Andrew Wheatcroft, in their 1986 book ''Zones of Conflict: An Atlas of Future Wars'', make the point that strategic interests in Antarctica derive from two causes: economic and strategic. Antarctica has great potential economic value, in terms of mineral and oil resources. Strategically, there was continuing concern about keeping the

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

route available for free passage during the Cold War, as, among other things, U.S. aircraft carriers cannot pass through the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

. The

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

, Keegan and Wheatcroft go on to say, dominate the

Drake Passage The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile, Argentina, and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean (Scotia Sea) with the southeastern part of the Pa ...

, the 'stretch of stormy water separating South America from the Antarctic'. This was a less publicised factor during the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

. However, with the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and increasing competition for fossil fuel resources, the 'economic' rather than the 'strategic' rationale will likely grow more important in the early twenty-first century.

References

{{Antarctica Activity Antarctic expeditions Military expeditions