ICE-X - now the ice is melting

The Navy has been exercising in the Arctic under the ice for decades, particularly during the peak of the cold war, when the Arctic submarine canyons were a primary area for undersea warfare between SSN's and SSBN's (ours and theirs). It used to mean building an ice camp to deploy instruments and test targets for the submarines to play against. ICE-X 2011 

Ice Camp - ICEX 2011

I remember working at Hughes GSG doing analysis for the Mark 48 ADCAP torpedo to design new algorithms and predict its performance under the ice against very slow moving targets - a very tough environment for sonar operations. The book, Ice-X '86: Freezing the Cold War by L. Joseph Martini (Author) published by Military Press,ICE-X’86: Freezing the Cold War | Military Press, reminds me of those years. Its the best submarine book I've read since Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage by Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew 

Now it appears the ice is melting and Surface forces will play.

 Navy Prepares Fleet for More Arctic Missions | DoD Buzz
The Navy is accelerating research and technology programs aimed at preparing the fleet to operate in the Arctic. Navy leaders had been preparing to increase the services’ Arctic presence by the mid-2030s, but they are now accelerating the timetable to the mid-2020s due to the warming of the waters and the rapid pace of melting ice. See video link below.

Navy's Ice Exercise (ICEX) taking place in the Arctic
http://www.defensenews.com/videonetwork/1791132873001/Navy-s-Ice-Exercise-ICEX-taking-place-in-the-Arctic