The National Audit Office believes that the Armed Forces are taking too long to acquire equipment – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

When the long-term plan for the Armed Forces was adopted unanimously by the Storting at the beginning of June, it was called historic. Over the next 12 years, Norway will spend NOK 1,635 billion on defense to meet the security policy changes we have seen in recent years. Auditor General Karl Erik Schjøtt-Pedersen Photo: Amanda Pedersen Giske / NTB The money will, among other things, provide new submarines, frigates, helicopters and air defenses. But if the investments are to have an effect, it must be done more efficiently, according to a new report from the National Audit Office. – We have uncovered major weaknesses, and it is particularly serious in the situation Europe is in now. It is also very serious in light of the fact that the Norwegian Armed Forces have received a significantly increased budget for investments, says Auditor General Karl Erik Schjøtt-Pedersen to news. Critical of the Ministry of Defense In the report, the National Audit Office points to several weaknesses in the way Norway acquires new defense equipment. The investments take too long. Heavy delays are normal. Most of the investments stay within the budget, but the project is often scaled down to manage this. The armed forces have not calculated well enough how much it costs to operate new equipment. This means that there is a risk that the Armed Forces cannot afford to operate the equipment they acquire. The National Audit Office has looked at 38 projects, of which only six have been delivered on time, while the other 32 have been five years late on average. Schjøtt-Pedersen says this is serious considering that we have a war in Europe and that investments in the Armed Forces will increase sharply in the coming years. – The weaknesses we have uncovered around the investment processes in the Armed Forces may mean that the ambitions that the Storting have set for the new long-term plan are not reached. The Ministry of Defense has been aware of the problem pointed out in the report for a long time, but has not been able to find solutions. The National Audit Office believes that this is highly objectionable. Gram will follow up Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) says he is in agreement with the National Audit Office when they point to the investment processes needing to be more efficient. This is something he takes seriously, he wrote in an e-mail to news. – I will follow up the recommendations to the National Audit Office when we are to implement the measures in the long-term plan for the Armed Forces, in the ministry’s work with investments in defense equipment and through agency management in the sector, he writes. Gram thinks they are already well underway with the work. – We have demanded that the agencies view the operating consequences of investments in property, buildings, facilities and materials in the budget entries in order to obtain better calculations of lifetime costs. In addition, they are in the process of reforming the defense sector in order to get better management of investments. Published 20.06.2024, at 12.56 Updated 20.06.2024, at 14.47



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