U.S. Navy and Marine Corps vessels sit outside the Polar Code entirely. As Arctic operations grow, does current cold-water immersion equipment meet the standard the services have already set for themselves?

On a long transatlantic ferry flight in April 2026, a Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron out of Belle Chasse, Louisiana equipped its aircrew with Arctic 10+ immersion suits before departure. Three suits, one flight, one very old question: if something goes wrong over the North Atlantic, how long do you actually have? That question isn't limited to open water. A growing share of Arctic flying — polar resupply runs, research-support flights, sovereignty patrols, trans-polar car