Warning military conflict between UK and Russia could be three to five years away
Military conflict with Russia in the High North is imminent, MPs have been warned.
The Commons Defence Select Committee was also told the UK must play a leading role in helping secure the region as Russian activity increases.
Britain has increased its military presence in the Arctic due to growing concerns from the threat posed by Moscow.
The Ministry of Defence announced it was doubling the amount of troops deployed to Norway from 1,000 to 2,000 over the next three years.
The UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force will also conduct a major exercise involving land, sea and air assets in the High North later this year.
Experts have been highlighting the importance of this greater commitment to the Arctic region as they say the UK could have to face Russia in a matter of years.
Ed Arnold from the Royal Services Institute (RUSI) said: “Nato is a defensive alliance so Nato isn't going to instigate a war with Russia, particularly not in the Arctic or High North.
"The Kremlin may do it through deliberate policy, and I'd say the time frame for that being likely is around the next three to five years.
"The issue is it could just happen through miscalculation - and that could happen tomorrow - and if it happens to do miscalculation you do need to be ready to respond immediately.”
Dr Mark De Vore from the University of St Andrews also told MPs on the committee that be believed it was inevitable.
He said: "I think that conflict in the High North is almost certain within the time frame of the next 10-15 years.
"Now it might not be a conflict where the cause of the conflict is the High North - it could be that we have another iteration of Russia/Ukraine or Russian conflict with the Baltic States, and therefore what ticks off in the High North is secondary to a conflict that occurs elsewhere.
"There are potential causes of conflict in the High North, but I think that one of these going violent within the next decade or two is extremely likely."
Caroline Kennedy-Pipe, the professor of war studies at Loughborough University, said it was up to the UK to play a leading role in countering Russian aggression in the High North.
"I think we’ve got to think of a UK-led European type of response in the Arctic - because we simply cannot know what the Americans are going to commit to," she told MPs.
“The Russians have a series of alliances of other powers interested in the Arctic.
"They will not give up Bear Island, the Barents and we have pressed them very, very hard in the Baltic.
"So that's why I think we'll see a dispersal of Russian forces and interests into other parts of the Arctic - their militarisation of the islands is extremely telling."
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