A few comments on the radio traffic before the Norwegian frigate “Helge Ingstad” and the tanker “Sola TS” collided, and the warship sank. This recording will go over in history as an example of how not to avoid an accident.
Norway
Norwegian frigate “Helge Ingstad” sinks after collision
The Norwegian frigate “Helge Ingstad” is sinking after a collision with a Maltese tanker. It is a surreal event to observe. Will be interesting to hear more details about what went wrong. Here are a few quick thoughts.
Helicopter scandals for everyone, Black Hawk to the rescue
Helicopters are a common problem for the scandinavian countries. Everyone seems struggling with deliveries, reliability, and costs. It is not a flattering story for European helicopters NH90 and AW101, and the American Black Hawk and Seahawk may be the solution everyone is turning to. Recently it made headlines that Sweden is considering not using NH90 […]
Norway buys K9 Thunder howitzers from South Korea
Norway has bought the K9 Thunder 155mm self-propelled howitzer, reports the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency. The contract includes 24 new howitzers and an unspecified number of K10 designated ammunition resupply vehicles. In addition to this there is an option for the purchase of another 24 howitzers. The initial cost is 1.8 billion NOK, and that […]
Ocean capable corvettes could be affordable force enablers
Yesterday the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Soobrazitelnyy, a corvette from the Baltic Fleet, had passed through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean. This was the latest in a series of press releases covering the journey of two Steregushchiy class corvettes and an auxiliary vessel from the Baltic Fleet. The […]
Historic procurement of Nordic Combat Uniforms reaches prequalification
The Nordic Combat Uniform (NCU) project is moving ahead with an official invitation to possible candidates for prequalification. The goal is that Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden will buy new combat uniforms together, albeit with national variations in colors and camouflage patterns. By making the procurement together the Nordic countries hope to attract big players […]
Still waiting for easy access to each other’s territories
While on the topic of NORDEFCO memorandums of understanding, has anyone seen any implementations of last year’s agreement to create easy access to each other’s territories for military capabilities?
Nordic countries agree to exchange radar data for air surveillance
The Nordic countries have agreed to enhance air surveillance through the exchange of radar data between the members of NORDEFCO. The defense ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Nordic Cooperation for Air Surveillance Information Exchange during their meeting in Helsinki yesterday. Several sources report this, but […]
F-35 arrives in Norway on Thursday
The first three Joint Strike Fighters will arrive in Norway on Thursday, according to this official statement by the government. Officially the three aircraft will be received at a ceremony on Friday, November 10 at the Ørland Main Air Station. Norway has already received seven F-35s that are being used in USA for training. In […]
Jamming of phones and GPS during Zapad causes concerns
Did Russia jam GPS signals in Norway and phone services in Latvia and Sweden and during exercise Zapad in September? Apparently there are many indications that they did, and now Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg has expressed his concerns about the Russian demonstrations of electronic warfare capabilities. Ideally, military units have redundant systems so they […]