Restoration of Adak Base in Alaska: preparation for Arctic blockade of the PRC and submarine war

On July 31, 2025, Republican Senator Dan Sullivan (Alaska) and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reached a preliminary compromise on the restoration of the American naval air base Adak—an outpost of the U.S. armed forces on the Aleutian Islands, closed in 1997 due to the end of the Cold War.

The subtext of the agreement was Senator Sullivan’s decision to unblock the appointment of Admiral Daryl Caudle as the new Chief of Naval Operations of the USA, and Secretary Hegseth’s—to use the funding provided by the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBA) for the development of defense infrastructure in Alaska, including Adak base.

Thus, the USA approached closing the leadership vacuum in the Navy, as well as an unprecedented rethinking of the security architecture in the north Pacific.