– The goal is to make it more challenging for an enemy to take out our aircraft, says Chief of the Air Force, Major General Rolf Folland. Norway lacks air defenses to shoot down long-range missiles. Among other things, it concerns extra fast, so-called hypersonic missiles. Now the Air Force is speeding up the plans to be able to spread the fighter planes better, in a so-called dispersion concept. – It is a protection tool. The threat landscape has changed over the past year. We are working to be able to spread our flight capacity, when the situation warrants it, both locally, regionally and internationally, says Folland. Can use outskirts in other ways Folland points to, among others, Finland and Sweden as examples of countries that have come a long way in being able to spread their planes out quickly. It’s about not gathering everything an enemy might be interested in destroying in one place. – The Norwegian air defense system NASAMS is good at stopping cruise missiles. But the threat picture has changed. We are vulnerable to long-range missiles in line with the development of missile technology and the situation in Europe, says Folland. The Air Force is intensifying its work to be able to spread fighter aircraft over a larger area than today. Norway lacks long-range air defenses to protect important targets such as the combat aircraft base on Ørlandet. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden/news Previously, the head of the air force told news that they are putting the job of developing the proliferation concept “on steroids”. – The F-35 can operate from many bases and locations. The limitation is how long the aircraft can operate without additional supplies of weapons, fuel and major technical ground support, says Folland. The fighters do not need much to be able to take off and land. Which areas it is appropriate to move them to is graded information. – We have many airstrips in Norway, and many partner countries, says Folland. – The Air Force is intensifying its work with a proliferation concept, says Major General and Chief of the Air Force, Rolf Folland. Photo: Hanne Wilhelms / news He points out that the technique of spreading aircraft capacity outward is a well-known concept, including from the Second World War. – We must again be able to deploy all types of military aircraft in various locations. This is to make us less vulnerable in a possible crisis or war. If such a concept is to work, we must, among other things, map out the possibilities and have updated plans, says Folland. Costly air defense The need for better air defense has been communicated by the Norwegian Armed Forces for many years. This is expensive technology. Several countries have air defenses with a longer range than Norway has as of today, including Germany. Norway has not ordered anything similar. – This is probably going to be an area with more focus in the coming year, both in Norwegian public debate, in the development of our national defense capability and we are already seeing it among our allies with the initiative that was taken in NATO, says Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram ( Q). He points out that the Norwegian system NASAMS is being strengthened. The mobile air defense system NASAMS at Ørland fighter base. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden – Work to increase our national ability to protect against long-range precision weapons is ongoing and our air defense capacity is being built up. The war in Ukraine has highlighted the need and importance of air defence, says Gram. Finland and Sweden are important The Kampfly base on Ørlandet in Trøndelag is the main base for the new F-35 fighters. So far, 37 such planes have arrived in Norway out of the order for a total of 52 planes. Evenes in Nordland is the so-called advanced base for the fighters. Here, two aircraft are constantly in Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) readiness for NATO, and monitor Norwegian airspace. – The air defense was greatly downsized after the Cold War and it is therefore a priority to protect the bases where we operate our combat aircraft, Ørland and Evenes. Today’s air defense is mobile and can be placed elsewhere in the country if there is a need for it, says Gram. Regardless of whether Sweden and Finland become members of NATO, these two countries are important cooperation partners for Norway to spread aircraft capacity. – We are close partners and they are already integrated with NATO and the USA after many years of cooperation and training. We have close cooperation with our Nordic neighbours, and we have a lot to gain from spreading, says Folland. Access to weapons, fuel and technical support can be a limitation on where the fighters can be. The picture shows ground crew at the combat aircraft base on Ørlandet in Trøndelag. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Must think “both and” The Air Force therefore points to two important ways to defend the country, should Norway be attacked. One is to protect against air attacks with air defenses, which are currently inadequate against several types of missiles. The second is to move on and spread whatever the enemy might be interested in destroying. – One cannot think “either or”, but “both and”. That is why the work with the diffusion concept is so important, says Folland. Norway has too few such air defenses that can protect both military and civilian targets against attack from outside. This is from a joint exercise between Norway and Germany in Greece this year. Ole Andreas Vekve/Forsvaret Gram points out that in recent years Russia has developed new advanced upper layer missile systems which, as of today, cannot be stopped by any known defense system. – The technological development within this area must be followed closely when we make our assessments of the development of the air defense structure. We must be able to strike the balance between acquiring the necessary systems at the right time and at the same time meeting the technological development, says Gram. – We must be able to strike the balance between acquiring the necessary system at the right time and at the same time meeting the technological development, says Gram. Photo: Hege K. Fosser Pedersen
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The Air Force will reduce the risk of Norwegian F-35 fighters being knocked out at the same time – news Trøndelag
