''Kystjegerkommandoen'' (KJK: in English "Coastal Ranger Commando") is a

Norwegian 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 *The Norwegian language, including ...

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

unit trained to operate in littoral combat theatres, filling the role of a marine corps and

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form o ...

History

The unit was created when it became clear that the coastal fortresses had to be abandoned due to their vulnerability to modern precision guided weapons. This was a gradual development, as the old coastal artillery branch of the

Norwegian Armed Forces The Norwegian Armed Forces ( no, Forsvaret, , The Defence) is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal ...

had been increasingly focusing on mobile operations, and less on coastal fortresses, for many years. With the establishment of the Ranger Command, this transition was complete. The unit was declared operational 17 August 2005. Home base is at Trondenes,

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the town of Harstad, the most populous town in Central Hålogalan ...

North Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the larg ...

Role

KJK operatives are trained to be highly mobile in the littoral environment, using the

Combat Boat 90 Stridsbåt 90 H(alv) (Strb 90 H; CB90) is a class of fast military assault craft used by several countries after being originally developed for the Swedish Navy by Dockstavarvet. Its name means Combat Boat 90 Half; the ''90'' refers to the year ...

and occasionally helicopters. The CB90 is capable of landing troops directly on the shore. Max payload is 16 armed troops, and max speed is . Their main weapon against enemy vessels is the

AGM-114 Hellfire The AGM-114 Hellfire is an air-to-ground missile (AGM) first developed for anti-armor use, later developed for precision drone strikes against other target types, especially high-value targets. It was originally developed under the name ''Hel ...

missile, using a blast-fragmentation warhead. This can easily be carried in the CB90, but will (usually) be launched from ashore, taking advantage of Norway's numerous islands and rugged coast. KJK maintain a strong focus on the

ISTAR ISTAR stands for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing ...

concept, and train to fight

asymmetrical Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry (the property of an object being invariant to a transformation, such as reflection). Symmetry is an important property of both physical and abstract systems and it may be displayed in pre ...

enemy tactics. KJK have trained with allied forces, where their CB90 have been embarked from the Dutch HNLMS ''Rotterdam'' LPD and the British HMS ''Albion''.

International operations

In November 2007, a KJK unit assisted a force of

Afghan soldiers The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be tr ...

and their 14 American mentors as they came under a Taliban ambush in Badghis province in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. When the Afghan soldiers and their American mentors were headed into an area to apprehend Taliban soldiers and leaders, they were unaware that they were headed into an ambush. The Norwegian soldiers observed this and were able to get through to their American allies on radio and warn them about the danger ahead, guiding them so they could fight themselves out of the situation. The Norwegian soldiers involved received the

Army Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

for their efforts. In November 2007, KJK took part in Operation Front Straightening to push

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

out of the Faryab province. The unit has lost three soldiers in combat during the Afghan war.

References

External links

* {{Royal Norwegian Navy Royal Norwegian Navy

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

Military units and formations established in 2001

History

Role

International operations

See also

References

External links