Busy Upcoming Years for the Norway’s Military

WASHINGTON (the USA), March 26, 2018, Author: Galina Zdravkova (Bm), Photo by Wired

It turns out that the first few years of the next decade will be quite busy for the Norwegian Armed Forces if all planned and intended purchases of military equipment take place, reported Defense News.

The current major goal of the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Norway is procurement of fifty-two F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, five P-8 anti-submarine aircrafts and four high-end submarines (HDW Class 212A, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems), which will lead to great modernization of the Norway’s military equipment.

The F-35A conventional take-off and landing jets will replace the fifty six F-16 Fighting Falcons. Last F-35A delivery is planned to be organized and performed in 2021. The four new submarines are expected to be ready for operation by the mid-2020s, and the five P-8 aircrafts – between 2022 and 2023.

“It’s challenging to change systems, of course. We are also changing the military system, the education system at the same time to cope with the changing and the new technology and the new jobs,” the Norwegian Defence Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen said and added: “But every time when you change existing systems you will have a dip in operational readiness, but not more than we can cope with … we can assure that we can do the mission we’re supposed to do … we will time it and cope with it. That’s possible.”