Norway Risks Losing Firepower in Shakeup of 'Irrelevant' Armed Forces

According to a recent proposal by the Land Power Committee, which has been tasked with working out viable solutions for the Norwegian Army and the Home Guard, a number of personnel cuts are in store for Norway. In order to free up resources for the purchase of new equipment, 350 professional soldiers might be sacked.

However, this measure is expected to undermine Telemark Battalion, the Army's only wholly professional unit, which was created in the 1990s as Norway's contribution to NATO. Following the cuts, half of Telemark Battalion's standing force will be replaced with reservists. Since the 1990's, the battalion has participated in a number of international operations.

​Lieutenant Colonel Ole Johan Skogmo ventured that the proposed cuts will destabilize Norway's participation in international operations.

"A personnel reduction will have significant consequences for Telemark Battalion and limit its ability to contribute abroad," Ole Johan Skogmo told the Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen.

This assessment was shared by retired Lieutenant General Robert Mood, former leader of Telemark Battalion and the Norwegian Army.

"The impact force and the reaction capacity will both be worsened, which will compromise the security of men on assignments. They simply won't have the same crowd of experienced people as before," Robert Mood said, voicing fears of having the overall competence reduced. "We already have too few soldiers today," he added.

During the presentation of the report, the Supreme Commander Haakon Bruun-Hanssen repeatedly stressed the fact that the report was only a recommendation.

Among other things, the report proposed a restructuring of the draft. While fewer recruits are suggested for conscription, the time of service for many units, including Brigade North, may be extended to 16 months. After the service, the soldiers shall be placed in reserve for four years. The new conscription will also put an emphasis on drafting young people from the country's northernmost counties to ensure recruitment to the Home Guard in, above all, Finnmark, the county bordering Russia.

Earlier, the Norwegian Armed Forces was reported to suffer from low impact force and mobility, have poor perseverance and lack artillery and missiles that can attack an enemy from far away. The Land Power report is therefore expected to propose an investment in missiles, tanks and strengthened air defense to address these problems. To be able to finance this, cuts may prove inevitable.

According to former Norwegian Intelligence Service boss Kjell Grandhagen, the army has already reached its minimum level in size and is worried about future cuts.

"The reality is that our army has become so small that it is irrelevant. The army must grow in volume, and there is clearly no room for growth in the funds set aside by the long-term plan," Kjell Grandhagen told Klassekampen.

This assessment was shared by active army representatives.

"As the reports on ongoing work indicate, we still seem to lack the resources for maintaining preparedness, modernization and personnel to solve our tasks," Lieutenant Colonel Ole Johan Skogmo said.

At the same time, Grandhagen pointed out that both the government parties and the largest opposition parties have adopted the common NATO goal of increasing the defense spending to 2 percent of the GDP by 2024 (from today's 1.5 percent), which would increase the defense budget by 17 billion NOK ($2bln).

According to a report by former chief of the Norwegian Defense Research Institute Nils Holme, commissioned by the Defense Ministry, an increase in the Armed Forces' budget by one third would more than double the number of floating vessels and triple the overall fighting power because more weapons will be battle-ready simultaneously, the Norwegian daily Aftenposten reported.