China encroaches dangerously close to US land as a single ship breakdown exposes major vulnerability

America's ability to maintain a presence in the Arctic remains thin enough that a single mechanical failure cut the Coast Guard's icebreaking capability in the region in half this summer.

And the breakdown comes as Chinese vessels are expanding their activity around Alaska.

Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander of the Coast Guard's Arctic District, told Fox News Digital the failure of Coast Guard Cutter Healy left him with just one of two icebreakers that had been slated to operate in the ice.