The U.S. Navy has deployed underwater drones to monitor the melting of ice sheets on the Arctic.

The Navy's mission is to assess the speed in which the ice is melting and plan for possible Russian incursions as more open water becomes navigable.

The Navy deployed the underwater drones as part of its revised Arctic Road Map, which explains how the decreasing ice layers and rising water temperatures will create more water ways in Arctic and allow for greater sea traffic. The project will help plan for potential Russian incursions into the Arctic as the seas continue to open up. With the information, the Navy can plan accordingly.

The drones will monitor the water's temperature and salt content so scientists can create better models to predict when waterways will begin opening up, Martin Jeffries, science advisor to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) told Military Times.

"What we've been seeing in recent years is a much greater retreat of the sea ice cover in the summer time such that in the last eight years, we've seen the eight lowest minimum ice extent values in the arctic in the satellite record going back to 1979," Jeffries explained.

Using the Seaglider underwater drone, the Navy hopes to "better understand what is happening in that marginalized zone in the summertime so that we can understand the retreats of ice we have seen in recent years," according to Jeffries. The marginal ice zone is where packed ice meets open water.

The drones can autonomously monitor the sea for months and relay information to scientists.

The Navy has previously mentioned the development of an underwater drone, the GhostSwimmer, however, Navy's drones in the Arctic will only collect scientific data.

Nonetheless, they could prove useful as Russia continues to stretch its reach past its borders. As the Ukraine crisis continues, Russia also shown greater interest on the frozen north of the globe.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu this past weekend said Russia would protect its national interests in the Arctic, according to the state-run Sputnik News. Russia has deployed a permanent military presence to the Arctic.

This sentiment is also reiterated in Russia's revised military doctrine, adopted at the end of 2014.