Norwegian Defence Force

The Norwegian Defence Forces (Forsvaret) numbers about 30,000 personnel, including civilian employees. The strength during full mobilisation is approximately 130,000.

Norwegian Defence Forces are subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of Defence (headed by the Minister of Defence). The Commander-in-Chief is formally H.M. King Harald V.

Under the Constitution, the Minister of Defence is answerable to Parliament for all activities carried out by the agencies under his/her responsibility. This means that the Ministry, as part of the executive branch of government, is responsible for supervising the activity of its subordinate agencies, among other things by carrying out overall supervisory functions.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is from 2003 an integrated structure with civilian and military personnel. Subordinate to the MoD are the "Armed Forces' Military Organisation" as well as the three civilian agencies: the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (http://www.mil.no/felles/ffi/start/English/) (FFI), the National Security Agency (http://www.nsm.stat.no) and the Defence Estate Agency.

Armed Forces' Military Organisation

The Armed Forces Military Organisation is headed by the "Chief of Defence" (a four star general or admiral). The Chief of Defence is both head of the military organisation and principal military adviser to the Minister of Defence. The Armed Forces Military Organisation consists of the following main structures:

• Defence Staff Norway (DEFSTNOR) in Oslo acts as the staff of the Chief of Defence. It is headed by a three star general or admiral. DEFSTNOR assigns priorities, manages resources, provides force generation and support activities. The each of the four branches of defence is headed by a two star general/admiral who are subordinate to DEFSTNOR.
  • The Norwegian Army
  • The Royal Norwegian Navy
  • The Royal Norwegian Air Force
  • The Norwegian Home Guard

• • National Joint Headquarters (NJHQ) in Mount Jåtta close to Stavanger has operational control of Norwegian defence forces worldwide 24/7. It is headed by the Supreme Commander Norwegian Forces - a three star general or admiral. Subordinate to NJHQ is the Regional Headquarters North in Bodø, which is a national crisis management centre for Northern areas.

• • Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation (NDLO) at Kolsås outside Oslo is responsible for engineering, procurement, investment, supply, information and communications technology. It also has responsibility for maintenance, repair and storage of materiel.

Structure 2008

The Norwegian armed forces will be reorganised during the period 2005 to 2008. The structure after 2008 is planned to be as follows.

Joint:

• 1 National Joint Headquarters in Stavanger
• 1 Regional Command in Bodø
• 12 Home Guard districts
• Tactical Mobile Land/Maritime Command
• Norwegian Defence Special Forces
  • Norwegian Army Special Operations Command (Hærens jegerkommando/Forsvarets spesialkommando) (equivalent to Delta Force or Special Air Service
  • Norwegian Naval Ranger Command (Marinejegerkommandoen) (equivalent to Navy Seals or Special Boat Service)
  • 1 Air Wing
• Joint ISTAR Unit (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance)
  • Module based ISTAR Unit
  • Norwegian Coastal Ranger Command ("Marines")
  • UAV capability
• Airborne Ground Surveillance (joint NATO project)
• Norwegian Home Guard - 50 000 personnel + 33 000 (reserve), rapid reaction forces, follow-on-forces, reinforcement forces and reserves.
• Capacity for information operations
• Flexible medical units
• NRBC protection (Nuclear, radiological, biological, chemical weapons )
• Explosive Ordnance Disposal
• Joint C2I Unit (command, control and information)
• Civil Military Coordination Unit (CIMIC)
• Deployable logistical support
• 2 mobilisation host country battalions (logistics for allied reinforcements)

Norwegian Army:

• 1 mechanised infantry brigade (Brigade Nord)
• 1 mechanised infantry battalion (Telemark Battalion, part of Brigade Nord)
• 1 mobilisation mechanised infantry brigade (Brigade 6)
• 1 mobile tactical land command (6th Division)
• Division/Corps units; ISTAR Unit, transport unit, fuel unit, NRBC search and cleaning unit, engineering unit, bridge unit
• Norwegian Army Special Operations Command
• Home Guard (Land)
• Border Guards
• HM the King's Guard

Royal Norwegian Navy:

• 5 Fridtjof Nansen class AEGIS frigates
• 6 Skjold class fast patrol boats
• 6 Ula class submarines
• Mine Warfare Capability
  • 6 Oksøy class mine hunter or Alta class mine sweeper
  • Mine Clearance Command (divers); HNoMS Tyr support vessel
• Coastal Ranger Command
• Naval Ranger Command
• Tactical Naval Command
• Logistics/Support Capacity
• Maritime Home Guard
• Coast Guard
  • 1 Svalbard class vessel
  • 3 Nordkapp class vessels
  • Leased vessels (KV Tromsø and KV Ålesund, 1 new vessel, 4 ocean patrol vessels)
  • Inner coast guard (10 leased vessels)
  • Tug capacity
  • Strategic Sealift (common NATO project)

Royal Norwegian Air Force:

• 48 (+9) F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters
• 2 Air Control Centre/Recognized Air picture Production Centre/Sensor Fusion post (ARS Sørreisa and ARS Rygge)
• Strategic Airlift / Aerial refuelling (common NATO projects)
• Maritime surveillance (4 x P-3C Orion and 2 x P-3N Orion
• Electronic Warfare (2 + 1 DA-20 Jet Falcon)
• Transport C-130 Hercules
• Surface to Air Warfare (NASAMS) (1 deployable unit and one mobile unit)
• Air Wing for Special Forces (6 x Bell 412)
• Air National Guard
• 12 Bell 412 transport helicopters
• 6 NH-90 maritime helicopters (frigates)
• Deployable base support
• 12 Sea King search and rescue helicopters
• 8 NH-90 coast guard helicopters

External links

• Royal Norwegian Ministry of Defence (http://www.dep.no/fd/engelsk/)
• Norwegian Defence Force (http://www.mil.no/languages/english/start/)