Pituffik Space Base emerges as critical US outpost as Trump eyes Greenland

A view of Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base) in Greenland, October 4, 2023. Ritzau Scanpix/Thomas Traasdahl via REUTERS/File Photo

Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland — formerly known as Thule Air Base — is gaining renewed attention as one of the most strategically vital US military installations in the world, even as it remains largely unknown to the American public, as reported by The New York Times.

“It is quite literally the outermost eye of American defence,” said Danish defence analyst Peter Ernstved Rasmussen. The base houses the Upgraded Early Warning Radar system, enabling the US to detect missile launches in their earliest stages — a capability viewed as irreplaceable in an era of advancing threats like hypersonic missiles.

Trump’s renewed push on Greenland puts spotlight on Pituffik

President Trump, who has revived his desire to make Greenland part of the United States, is sending Vice President JD Vance and a high-level delegation to the island this week. Vance plans to visit “our guardians” in the Space Force stationed at Pituffik, where about 150 US Air Force and Space Force personnel are permanently based.

Each summer, Pituffik also supports scientific missions via the New York Air National Guard, which deploys LC-130 ski-equipped aircraft to deliver researchers and supplies to ice sheet camps.

From Cold War base to Arctic surveillance hub
The American military presence in Greenland dates back to World War II, when the US bypassed Nazi-occupied Denmark to set up bases and monitor German submarine activity. By the 1950s, the outpost had become central to Cold War strategy, with bombers and radar systems positioned for polar-route defence against the Soviet Union.

The base’s Cold War legacy includes Camp Century — a bizarre nuclear-powered facility buried under the ice as part of Project Iceworm, which explored whether missiles could be launched from beneath the surface. The project failed, leaving behind radioactive and chemical waste now buried under unstable ice that could eventually thaw.

Pituffik also has a darker history for Greenland’s Indigenous population. In 1953, about 130 Inuit were forcibly relocated from their homes near Thule to make room for the base, a displacement for which compensation came only decades later. Resentment still lingers.

The name change from Thule to Pituffik, meaning “the place we tie our dogs” in Greenlandic, came two years ago in a move to restore cultural identity.

A remote base, a vital mission

Located above the 76th parallel, Pituffik is roughly 750 miles from the North Pole. Its nearest settlement, Qaanaaq, is over 70 miles away and home to fewer than 650 people, many of whom depend on subsistence hunting.

Despite its harsh environment — where winter temperatures drop below minus 30 Fahrenheit and the sun disappears for weeks — Pituffik’s airfield operates year-round. Ships can only access the base during a brief summer window when sea ice recedes.

Defending against the next-generation threat Military analysts say Pituffik is more crucial than ever in light of hypersonic weapons, which are faster, lower-flying, and harder to intercept.

“Hypersonic missiles don’t go into space — they fly low, they manoeuvre, and we have no way to intercept them once they’re launched,” said Arctic defence expert Troy J. Bouffard. This makes early detection from high-latitude radar systems like Pituffik essential, since satellites and laser-based systems often fail in the Arctic’s ice-filled atmosphere.

Bouffard believes Pituffik’s role could expand beyond surveillance to include serving as a forward staging base or key communication link for Arctic operations. “The more forward these locations are, the more useful they are,” he said.

As President Trump signals deeper interest in Greenland, the isolated outpost known as “the top of the world” may soon find itself closer to the centre of US defence policy.