Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said ministers were drawing up a new strategy which will see hundreds of commandos being deployed to Norway to deal with the growing threat from Russia "in our back yard".
He said Russia had been re-opening Soviet bases not used in years, and an increased submarine activity in the area meant that Britain had to protect its own interests.
Ministers are worried that as the Arctic ice melts, Russia's President Putin will try to grab land and intensify its activity there. Climate change has also sparked a rush to tap into oil reserves there.
Mr Williamson told the Sunday Telegraph: "We see Russian submarine activity very close to the level that it was at the Cold War, and it’s right that we start responding to that.
"If we could turn back the clock 10 years many people thought that the era of submarine activity in the High North, in the North Atlantic, and the threat that it posed did disappear with the fall of the Berlin Wall. This threat has really come back to the fore."
And he added: "If we want to be protecting our interests in what is effectively our own back yard this is something we need to be doing."
800 Royal Marine and Army commandos will be deployed to Norway every winter for the next decade, the paper reported.
In November Britain will deploy 3,000 troops as part of a 40,000 strong NATO training exercise there too.
The defence boss will make his first speech to Tory party conference later today, where he will unveil the new strategy.
Last night Sir Michael Fallon warned the Novichok poison attacks should be a “wake-up call” to the menace posed by Vladimir Putin’s regime.
He said Britain must boost military spending to combat the growing threat from Russia.
Increasing defence spending to just 2.5 per cent of national income by 2022 would give our armed forces an additional £7.7billion a year, he argued.
Sir Michael also wants a bar on Russian companies using the City of London to raise funds to underpin the Kremlin’s military machine.
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