Air Defence in Northern Europe

THE CURRENT SITUATION AND FUTURE EXPECTATIONS

Norway

The peace-time organization of the RNAF is as follows: ^3l

Headquarters, Huseby, Oslo

Northern Norway Air Command

• Helicopter Squadron 330, A Flight, Bodö, B Flight, Banak
• Helicopter Squadron 337, Bardufoss
• Helicopter Squadron 339, Bardufoss
• Fighter Squadron 331, Bodö
• Fighter Squadron 334, Bodö
• Maritime Squadron 333, Andoya
• Liaison Squadron 719, Bodö

Southern Norway Air Command

• Helicopter Squadron 330, C Flight, Örland, D Flight, Stavanger-Sola
• Fighter Squadron 332, Rygge
• Transport Squadron 335, Oslo-Gardemoen
• Fighter Squadron 336, Rygge
• Fighter Squadron 338, Örland
• Helicopter Squadron 720, Rygge
• Primary Flying School and Cadet School, Trondheim,Värnes
• Technical School, Kjevik

The peacetime strength of the RNAF is about 9,500 persons and the total number of aircraft about 150, including 59 F-16 A/B fighters and 15 F-5 A/Bs. Its war time strength is about 34,000, supplemented by an Air Force Home Guard of 2,500 men organized into ten air defence batteries.^l2

NATO has already been working for several years on building up a new early warning, surveillance and control system to replace the NADGE system, but due to the changing international situation the budget has been cut back markedly- This means that work on Norway’s network of 14 stations has also slowed down. The majority of the infrastructure has in any case been completed. Ten new 3-D HADR middle-range radar systems have been purchased to replace the older equipment, and these have been located mainly on the coast, so that they also participate in marine surveillance. The long-range radars from the 1960s are to be replaced with the new NATO system at the turn of the century.

The Norwegian air surveillance and control system works in close cooperation with NATO, USAF and British AWACS planes flying over the Norwegian Sea, although the intensity of flights has decreased since the USA closed down the AWACS unit at Keflavik. Nowadays mainly NATO and British aircraft are continuing the operations, with …Örland as their Forward Operating Location (FOL) in Norway. Renewal of the fighter fleet is now entering the planning stage. The mid-life update (MLU) of the F-16 A/B fighters scheduled for 1996-2000 has just begun, and this should prolong their service life to about 2020. The lifetime of the modified F-5 aircraft will obviously come to an end before that, and so they will inevitably be a part of the renewal process.

The evaluation work started with the Rafale, Eurofighter 2000, JAS, F-16 C/D block 50 plus, F-18 C/D and F-18 E/F fighters as the preliminary candidates. The original plan is to acquire 48 aircraft to replace the old F-5 A/B force and the F-16 A/B fighters that have been lost. Deliveries should take place in 2003 or 2004. The current F-16 A/B squadrons are to be replaced with new aircraft in the period from 2015 to 2018.

The main weapon of the RNAF F-16s is the AIM-9L Sidewinder, and without the AIM-7 Sparrow, the aircraft are basically clear weather fighters. The MLU program will give them an all-weather capability, with missiles such as the AIM120 AMRAAM or MICA.

The anti-ship weapon currently deployed is the Norwegian Penguin P-3 missile, but the longer-range P-4 is under development. The main ground attack weapon is the AGM-65 Maverick and the anti-radar arsenal consists of AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-88 HARM missiles.

The main mission of the RNAF is air defence, to secure the arrival and deployment of specific NATO units in Norway in order to begin operations. A secondary mission for the fighters is anti-ship warfare with the Penguin missiles. The long coastline and vast, open sea area introduce maritime and transportation obligations, which are reflected in the number of anti-submarine Orion P-3Cs and helicopters.

About 40 trainee pilots are accepted each year, and after primary training in Norway, they receive their advanced training in the USA. The trainees are divided into four categories: fighter pilots, transport pilots, helicopter pilots and navigators. After the training in the USA, which takes from 11 to 16 months depending on the category, a period of 3-5 months of tactical training is provided at Rygge. After this the pilots are stationed in their squadrons for possible type courses followed by normal service training.^l2

The Nike Hercules anti-aircraft area protection missile batteries around Oslo have been taken out of commission lately, and some of the Norwegian Adapted Hawk (NOAH) target protection missile batteries are obviously being used to replace them. Norway carried out the NOAH modification by combining the Improved Hawk system with the Acquisition Radar and Control System (ARCS) fire control center by Konsberg. The main mission of the present six NOAH battalions is to protect air bases such as Andoya, Bardufoss, Bodö, Evenes, Värnes and Örland.³² Norway was the first country to adopt an active anti-aircraft missile system. This is based on AMRAAM missiles, and two of the first units have already been delivered. The remaining four units are expected to be in operational use by 1997. One battery consists of three platoons, each having 3 launchers with 6 missiles, so that the battery has a total of 54 missiles. These Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) batteries will use mobile Hughes AN/TPb36A target acquisition and fire control radar devices combined with ARCS fire control centers. Their main mission will obviously be to protect the air bases.

The short-range anti-aircraft units were equipped during 1991-1994 with the Swedish RBS-70, which replaced the Bofors L/60 4.0 mm anti-aircraft guns. These units now form the main bulk of the army anti-aircraft system, although light cannons and machine guns are also used as short range anti-aircraft weapons in the army units. There are anti-aircraft battalions in Rygge, Gardemoen, Lista, Sola, Örland, Värnes, Bodö, Bardufoss and Andoya, anti-aircraft batteries in Langenes, Evenes and Torp, reserve battalions in Fornebu and Flesland, and reserve batteries in Kjevik and Bodö.¹²

The Chief Inspector of Air Defence is the head of the Air Force and is responsible for organization, tactical and material development, flight safety and personnel administration. Operational responsibility extends through the military commands, and the air commands are subordinated to these. The same holds good for anti-aircraft defence, the Chief Inspector of Air Defence being the head of the anti-aircraft troops, with the similar responsibilities as for the Air Force. The structure of operational responsibility is also similar.^l2

The role of NATO plays a major part in Norwegian thinking and expectations for the future. The overall decrease in military spending within the NATO organization will place more of a burden on the national defence contribution. One example is the formidable system of bases, which will need substantial resources if it is to be maintained at its original planned size.

On the other hand, the extensive and highly important Russian military concentration in the Kola region will mean that the northern flank of NATO will never fall out of focus in the planning of air assets. The types of aircraft which NATO plans to deploy in Norway in times of crisis include:

• Tornado and Jaguar reconnaissance aircraft
• A-10 dose support and anti-tank aircraft
• F-16 and F/A-18 multirole fighters
• F-15 and Tornado ADV interceptors
• Tornado IDS attack aircraft
• AV-8B and Harrier close support aircraft - EA-6B electronic warfare planes
• C-130 transports
• C-135 tankers.

The total amount of NATO support amounted earlier to about 300 planes but the expected number is now somewhere around 200 or less.

If a carrier force group were deployed in the Norwegian Sea it would bring 80 or 160 more aircraft onto the scene depending on the number of carriers. These would include:

• E-2C Hawkeye AWACS aircraft
• S-3A Viking surveillance and anti submarine aircraft
• F-14 Tomcat interceptors
• F/A-18 Hornet multi-role fighters
• A-6E and A-7E attack aircraft
• KA-6D tankers
• EA-6B electronic warfare aircraft

The carrier force can be supported by P-3 Orion surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft flying from Great Britain and Iceland.

Other aircraft such as the F-117, F-lllF, F-15E, B-1B, B-2 and B-52 can occasionally be used on the northern flank as well, without being based in Norway. The anti-aircraft weapons possessed by the NATO support forces include the TPS-59/HAWK Anti-Tactical Ballistic Missile system, Rapier, Chaparral-Vulcan, possibly Patriot, and also Shorts Javelin shoulder-launched missiles.

Norwegian Army anti-aircraft defence will be in the hands of air defence battalions equipped with RBS-70 short-range missiles and 20 mm cannons, controlled by Mobilradar control centers and Siemens weapon terminals. These belong to the Norwegian Army Low Level Air Defence System (NALLADS).^l8

The anti-aircraft defence of air bases will be divided into three categories. The first will comprise a NASAMS battery, L70 batteries and a RBS-70 battery combined with four ARCS centers, the second a NASAMS battery and a RBS-70 battery combined with four ARCS centers, and the third one RBS-70 battery and two ARCS centers.¹⁸

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