A United States Navy LC-130 Hercules near the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in 1996

An Indian Navy team after sky-diving in Antartica.

As Antarctica has never been permanently settled by humans, there has historically been little military activity in the Antarctic. While the Antarctic Treaty, which came into effect in June 1961, bans military activity in Antarctica, military personnel and equipment may be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purpose on the continent.^[1] Image File history File links C-130_South_Pole. ... Image File history File links C-130_South_Pole. ... USN redirects here. ... The LC-130 is a ski-equipped variant of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules used in the Arctic and Antarctic. ... The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is a U.S. research station at the South Pole, in Antarctica. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x1024, 100 KB) From the website http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x1024, 100 KB) From the website http://www. ... The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. ... The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate the international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earths only uninhabited continent. ...

The Antarctic Treaty specifically prohibits military activity on land or ice shelves below 60°S. Though it is worth noting that whilst the the use of nuclear weapons is absolutely prohibited, the Treaty does not apply to naval activity within these bounds (in the Southern Ocean) so long as it takes place on the high seas. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... The terms international waters, transboundary waters, or High Seas 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 regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems (aquifers), and wetlands. ...

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, 1773)
• USS Vincennes' surveys of Antarctica (United States, 1839 and 1840)
• In February 1941 the German auxiliary cruiser Komet patrolled the Ross Sea and Antarctic coastline in an unsuccessful search for Allied whalers^[2]
• Operation Tabarin (United Kingdom, 1944-45)
• Operation Highjump (United States, 1946-47)
• Operation Windmill (United States, 1947-48)
• The Australian auxiliary HMAS Wyatt Earp made an unsuccessful voyage to Antarctica in 1948.^[3]
• Operation Deep Freeze (United States and New Zealand, 1955-ongoing)
• Operación 90 (Argentina, 1965)
• In January 2006 a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K Orion maritime patrol aircraft conducted a trial flight to and from Pegasus Airfield near McMurdo Station to determine the feasibility of conducting patrols from Antarctica in support of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.^[4]

James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ... The first USS Vincennes was the first United States warship to circumnavigate the globe. ... The Nazi German Kriegsmarine auxiliary cruiser Komet (HSK7) was a commerce raider of the Second World War. ... Map of Antarctica (click to enlarge) Ice in the Ross Sea, Antarctica The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land. ... The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis Powers during the Second World War. ... A whaler (or whale catcher) is a specialized kind of ship, designed for catching whales. ... During World War II, Operation Tabarin was a small British expedition launched from the UK in 1943 to the Antarctic to to establish permanently occupied bases. ... Operation Highjump was a United States Navy operation in Antarctica from 1946-47, the largest effort in the southmost continent to this day. ... Operation Windmill (OpWml) was a U.S. Navy exploration and training mission to Antarctica in 1947-1948. ... Operation Deep Freeze I was the codename for a series of scientific expeditions to Antarctica in 1955–56. ... The first Argentine ground expedition to the South Pole, conducted in 1965, by the Argentine army under Colonel Jorge E. Leal. ... The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) is the air force arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. ... The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a maritime patrol aircraft of the United States military used primarily for maritime patrol, reconnaissance, and anti-submarine warfare. ... A New Zealand P-3K Orion, testing Pegasus as a possible base for Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources patrols, January 2006 The Pegasus blue ice runway is the farthest and least-used of McMurdo Stations three frozen airstrips. ... McMurdo Station from Observation Hill. ... The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources is part of the Antarctic Treaty System. ...

Potential for future conflicts

A RNZAF P-3K Orion in Antarctica in January 2006

John Keegan 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 route available for free passage during the Cold War, as, among other things, U.S. aircraft carriers cannot pass through the Panama Canal. The Falkland Islands, Keegan and Wheatcroft go on to say, dominate the Drake Passage, the 'stretch of stormy water separating South America from the Antarctic'. This was a less well publicised factor during the Falklands War.^[5] Image File history File links RNZAF_P3. ... Image File history File links RNZAF_P3. ... The Royal New Zealand Air Force or RNZAF is the air operations arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. ... The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a maritime patrol aircraft of the United States military used primarily for maritime patrol, reconnaissance, and anti-submarine warfare. ... Sir John Keegan (born 1934) is an English military historian. ... Cape Horn from the South. ... Two Panamas running the Miraflores Locks The Panama Canal (Spanish: ) is a major ship canal that traverses the Isthmus of Panama in Central America, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. ... Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica. ... Combatants United Kingdom Argentina Casualties 258 killed [3] 777 wounded 59 taken prisoner 649 killed 1,068 wounded 11,313 taken prisoner The Falklands War (Spanish: ) was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. ...

However, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and increasing competition for fossil fuel resources, the 'economic' rather than the 'strategic' rationale is probably more important in the early twenty-first century.^[6]

References