See how US Marines brave freezing temperatures while readying for a fight in the high Arctic

Led by the Norwegian military, Joint Viking takes place in early to mid-March in Troms, a country in northern Norway located about 250 miles west of the Norweigian-Russian border.

The Marine Corps will be among 10,000 troops participating in the biennial winter military exercise, which will also include armed forces from the UK, Canada, Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands.

In Troms since January, the Marines will play a "significant role" in the cold-weather war games, testing how quickly they can mobilize and deploy a large force across the Atlantic in a crisis, the Corps said in a statement.

Joint Viking is one of several routine military exercises held in the Arctic Circle, including Nordic Response, Arctic Forge, Arctic Dolphin, and Joint Warrior.

Beyond preparing troops for Arctic warfare, the military exercises are also intended to send a message to Russia about NATO's military readiness, especially as the war in Ukraine rages on.

During the last Joint Viking exercise in 2023, NATO commanders patrolled the border toward the Kola Peninsula, driving snowmobiles on the frozen Pasvik River.

The war in Ukraine has forced Russia to reevaluate its military posturing in the Arctic, especially after enduring heavy losses in its land forces, according to an article published in the peer-reviewed journal, Arctic Review on Law and Politics.

Tormod Heier, a retired lieutenant colonel for the Norwegian Army, wrote that the Ukraine war acts as a sort of "Arctic tranquilizer," reducing tensions and the likelihood of direct confrontations between the US and Russia.

"This is partly due to fear of nuclear escalation but also due to strategic necessity: neither US nor Russian forces can afford an overstretch problématique in the contemporary international environment," Heier, who now works as an associate professor at the National Defence University in Stockholm, wrote. "As both protagonists forge self-imposed restraints, Russia's 2022 invasion has inadvertently led to more Arctic stability."

While Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine shifted some attention away from direct confrontation in the high north, the US and other NATO allies remain concerned about Moscow's ongoing military nuclear threat in the region, Heier wrote.

In 2018, China also forced its way into the Arctic power competition after it declared itself a "near-Arctic state" to justify its strategic interests in the region.

While Western nations rejected China's claim because it has no geographical territory in the region, Russia welcomed the country's presence in the high north. China has since focused its efforts on scientific research, energy investments, and strategic infrastructure development in the Arctic.

China's growing Arctic presence and close Russian ties have been seen as a potential threat by the US and other Arctic nations, using military exercises like Joint Viking as a "deterrent effect."

China "is one of the newer entrants on the scene. Over time, the strategic interests that they have in the region are … giving us pause," Iris Ferguson, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Arctic and Global Resilience for the Biden administration, said in a December statement.

Not only are the geopolitical tensions in the region ever-evolving, but the environment itself is reshaping as the climate crisis dramatically warms the Arctic at an unprecedented pace.

Melting ice is creating new shipping lanes along Russia's northern coast, potentially altering global trade routes. Growing access to resources, like oil, gas, and minerals that were recently impeded by ice, has led to countries, including the US, scrambling to stake their claim.

President Donald Trump's approach to Arctic policy has also heavily impacted the region, reversing climate regulations in favor of oil extraction and even expressing interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark as part of his national security strategy.