MOSCOW - A Russian-led expedition aims to make the first ever crossing from Russia's Arctic shore into Canada over the North Pole, a months-long voyage over precarious shifting ice floes.

The expedition, set to begin on February 17, will serve for some of the first tests of Russia's GLONASS satellite navigation technology, Moscow's bid to challenge the dominant US global positioning system (GPS).

The 8,000-km (5,000-mile) voyage is expected to reach Canada by the end of May and finish by June 22, he said.

Eight explorers will set out in two specially-designed vehicles with overinflated tyres that allow for travel over the snowdrifts and dangerous Arctic ice cap, where above-freezing temperatures in the summer months can cause the ice to break up.

The group, including two Russian-born Canadian citizens, plan to observe polar bear populations at the pole and test for climate change and signs of global warming, the results of which Chukov said the team would share later with scientists.

The Arctic test will be one of the first for the $2 billion GLONASS system, which Russia wants to make a central part of domestic consumer technology in cars and mobile phones.

Russia has sought to show predominance in Arctic exploration and in 2007 planted its flag in the seabed of the Arctic Ocean.