Trident Juncture 18, abbreviated TRJE18, was a
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
-led
military exercise
A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in Military education and training, training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of ...
held in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
in October and November 2018 with an
Article 5 collective defence scenario. The exercise was the largest of its kind in Norway since the 1980s. An expected participants from 31 nations partook, including 10,000 vehicles, 250 aircraft and 65 vessels. The exercise was mainly held in the central and eastern parts of Norway, in addition to air and sea areas in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. The stated goal of Trident Juncture was to train the
NATO Response Force and to test the alliance's defence capability. According to the
Norwegian Armed Forces
The Norwegian Armed Forces () are the armed forces responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Norwegian Coast Guard, Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air ...
, the exercise tested the country's ability to receive and handle allied support.
Background
During the
NATO summit in Wales in 2014, the alliance decided to conduct several high-profile military exercises in the coming years. was one of these exercises, and was held in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
and
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
in 2015. NATO also decided to conduct a second Trident Juncture, planned to be held in 2018. The
Norwegian government
The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power ...
offered to host the exercise, and NATO accepted Norway's offer in 2015. The main part of the exercises took place in the central and eastern parts of Norway, in the
counties
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
of
Trøndelag
Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...
,
Hedmark
Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar.
Hedmar ...
and
Oppland
Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...
.
The
Norwegian Armed Forces
The Norwegian Armed Forces () are the armed forces responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Norwegian Coast Guard, Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air ...
have called the exercise the largest held in Norway since the 1980s. It was NATO's largest exercise since 2002.
Purpose
According to NATO, Trident Juncture was designed to test its ability to train and operate together, also in the northern parts of the NATO area. NATO also claims that it served to test the Alliance's ability to operate in cold weather and difficult terrain.
According to the Norwegian Armed Forces, the exercise tested the country's ability to receive and handle large numbers of troops and amounts of materiel and military equipment. They also claim that the exercises served as a test for Norway's total defence concept – the country's total military and civilian resources to be used in preventing and handling crisis and conflicts. The concept means that some civilian authorities like the health sector,
Norwegian State Railways
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*Norwegian language, including the two ...
,
Norwegian Public Roads Administration
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration () is a Norwegian government agency responsible for national and county public roads in Norway. This includes planning, construction and operation of the national and county road networks, driver trainin ...
and the
Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection participate in hosting the allied troops during the exercise.
The exercise

Trident Juncture 18 consisted of three main parts: a phase of deployment lasting from August to October, a live field exercise from 25 October to 7 November and a command post exercise from 13 to 24 November 2018.
The deployment started in August 2018, with personnel, equipment and military materiel arriving at 27 different points in Norway. From these arrival points, the material was transported to the training areas by rail and road. An estimated total of 180 flights and 60 ship loads were needed to transport all the exercise equipment to Norway. A total of 50 camps were established in and around the exercise area. Half of these had the capacity to quarter more than 500 people, the largest being able to house 5,500 people.
During the
field exercise (LIVEX) from 25 October to 7 November the participants began training according to a scripted scenario. The land battle took place in the area south of
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
and north of
Rena Camp in
Hedmark County. There was also sea activity along the
Norwegian coastline, the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
and limited areas in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
and
Skagerrak
The Skagerrak (; , , ) is a strait running between the North Jutlandic Island of Denmark, the east coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea.
The Skagerrak contains some of the busiest shipping ...
. There was also air activity in the airspace over Norway, Sweden and Finland.
The
command post exercise
A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of warfare or test tactics and stra ...
(CPX) lasted from 14 to 23 November 2018 at NATO's
Joint Warfare Centre in
Stavanger
Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
, Norway. This was a data simulated desk exercise to train the headquarters. This exercise also served as a certification test for
Allied Joint Force Command Naples
The Joint Force Command Naples (JFC Naples) is a NATO military command based in Lago Patria, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy. It was activated on 15 March 2004, after effectively redesigning its predecessor command, Allied Forces Southe ...
.
The exercise gathered around participants from all NATO members and partner countries
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. An expected 250 aircraft, 65 vessels and vehicles were shipped into the country.
According to the Norwegian Armed Forces,
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
and the Norwegian defence sector have signed contracts with Norwegian businesses at a total of 1.5 billion
Norwegian kroner
The krone (, currency sign, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); ISO 4217, code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is the currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including List of possessions of Norway, overseas territories and dependencies). It was t ...
. This includes the establishment of 35,000 beds, 1.8 million meals to be served, 4.6 million bottles of water and kilograms of laundry throughout the exercise.
Incidents
Between the initial preparations and 7 November, NATO and the Norwegian Armed Services received 412 environmental damage incident reports and 51 complaints.
Of these reports, 30 have been traffic collisions between military and civilian vehicles,
with accidents occurring even after the peak of exercise's activities. The Norwegian Armed Forces stopped publishing figures on the complaints and damage reports on 7 November, despite the recurrence of other incidents and press coverage. Among these, several incidents have been notable enough to receive national media attention.
Disruption of local population
On 4 November 2018, NATO soldiers detained and handcuffed a 46-year old disabled man in Spillum while he was out walking. Soldiers have also been observed urinating and defecating close to public spaces, as well as in the proximity of kindergartens and schools. Despite complaints, most residents continued to be very positive regarding the NATO exercises.
Several residents in the areas where the exercises were carried out have complained about noise pollution due to increased military air traffic, including war veterans who have indicated that the exercises have caused
flashbacks. Håkon Stenmark, a psychologist at the Center for Crisis Psychology in Trondheim, has reported that the exercises have caused unrest among patients in the center.
HNoMS ''Helge Ingstad'' sinking
On 8 November 2018, while returning from the exercise, the Norwegian frigate collided with the
Maltese-flagged tanker ''Sola TS'', and began taking in water, as well as leaking about of diesel. The ship was deliberately
run aground in an attempt to prevent her sinking and allow for the evacuation of the crew. Seven sailors were injured in the incident and by late morning she had developed a severe
angle of list
The angle of list is the degree to which a vessel heels (leans or tilts) to either port or starboard at equilibrium—with no external forces acting upon it. If a listing ship goes beyond the point where a righting moment will keep it afloat, it ...
to starboard side with most of the stern submerged.
Public perception
Prior to the exercise,
Kantar TNS
Kantar TNS is a global market research and market information group with offices in over 80 countries. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, the firm was acquired by WPP Group for £1.6 billion in O ...
conducted a survey among Norwegians on behalf of the
Norwegian Armed Forces
The Norwegian Armed Forces () are the armed forces responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Norwegian Coast Guard, Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air ...
, in which 64% of respondents were positive towards NATO, while 65% of respondents viewed the exercises in Norway positively. Between November 6 and November 7, the survey was repeated with 69% of respondents answering positively towards NATO and 68% of respondents in favor of the exercises. Admiral
Haakon Bruun-Hanssen was quoted saying he largely believed this was due to the professional behaviour of the soldiers during the exercise, and the positive interactions between the armed forces and civilian population. The complete results and methodology report of the study have not been made publicly available.
Although the Kantar survey has revealed an overall positive perception of NATO and Trident Juncture, the results have been mixed, with perceptions differing from region to region. In those
counties
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
where the exercises were held (
Trøndelag
Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...
,
Hedmark
Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar.
Hedmar ...
,
Oppland
Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...
, and
Møre og Romsdal
Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...
), the percentage of respondents who had a positive opinion of NATO rose from 64 to 74%. However, in the same counties, public perception of the exercises declined; 68% of respondents surveyed were positive towards Trident Juncture prior to the exercises, while 64% responded positively in the second wave of the survey. Between the two surveys, the percentage of respondents that viewed the exercises negatively in those counties rose from 9 to 12%. Nationally, the number of respondents who viewed the exercises negatively rose from 8 to 11%.
Demonstrations against the exercises were held in
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
,
Bergen
Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo.
By May 20 ...
,
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
, and
Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...
. Roughly 500 activists demonstrated in Trondheim on October 20, 2018. The following week, over 1000 people participated in protests in the remaining three cities.
References
External links
{{Commons category
Trident Juncture 2018 pre-briefing, 09 OCT 2018 NATO NewsOfficial Website for Trident Juncture 2018North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Wargame: How This 2018 NATO Exercise Fared Against Russia
2018 in military history
Military exercises and wargames
NATO military exercises