HMS Illustrious and HMS Bulwark off Norway MOD 45153814

Nordic Response (named Cold Response until 2023) is a

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 ...

hosted by

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 ...

with other

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 invited

Partnership for Peace The Partnership for Peace (PfP; ) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) program aimed at creating trust and cooperation between the member states of NATO and other states mostly in Europe, including post-Soviet states; 18 states are ...

countries held every other year.

Exercises

The 2006 exercise

The first exercises was the largest military exercise in Norway in 2006. Around 10,000 soldiers from 11 nations participated.

Operations

Several of the operations were along the coast in the borders between sea and land, and together with roads and populated areas. Surveillance, patrols, road control posts, vehicle inspection, control of air space,

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of removing explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpos ...

, evacuation of civilians, and

riot control Riot control is a form of public order policing used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to social control, control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful Demonstration (people), demonstration ...

were important part of the exercise.

Participants

Among the participants were the Norwegian

Telemark Battalion The Telemark Battalion (, abbreviated as TMBN) is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Norwegian Army. It was established in 1993, and is a part of Brigade Nord and stationed at Rena, Hedmark. The battalion consists of five companies/squadrons. ...

, a thousand soldiers from the

Norwegian Home Guard The Norwegian Home Guard () is the rapid mobilization force within the Norwegian armed forces. Its main focus is local defense and civil support, but it can also detach volunteers for international operations. Its main tasks are safeguarding ter ...

, the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) () is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximately 2,430 employees (officers, enlisted ...

's 339 Squadron and 720 Squadron, and most of the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

's available forces. About 3,000 soldiers from the British

3 Commando Brigade United Kingdom Commando Force (UKCF), previously called 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), is the UK's special operations-capable commando formation of the Royal Marines. It is composed of Royal Marine Commandos and commando qualified personnel f ...

, completed their annual winter training by taking part in the exercise. 800 French mountain special forces, and 2,000 Swedish soldiers along with smaller units from the Netherlands, Latvia, Estonia, Switzerland, United States, Finland, Spain, Denmark and Canada also took part.

Scenario

Following an earthquake in a fictional nation called ''Asando'', an armed conflict by extremists and separation-groups against government forces erupts. The security council approves a resolution to allow NATO to take control of the situation. A peacekeeping force was assigned to help settle the conflict.

The 2007 exercise

The 2009 exercise

The military exercises were held through 16-25 March.

The 2010 exercise

The military exercises were from 17 February - 4 March, with up to 9,000 troops from 14 participating nations.

The 2012 exercise

12–21 March, with over 16,000 troops from 15 participating nations.

The 2014 exercise

7–22 March, with over 16,000 troops from 16 participating nations.

The 2016 exercise

29 February through 11 March, with over 15,000 troops from 12 participating nations.

The 2020 exercise

2-18 March, with some 16,000 troops from 10 participation nations. Stopped and canceled on 11 March due to the risk of increase spreading of COVID-19.

The 2021 exercise - cancelled before exercise

The exercise that was cancelled in January 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

The 2022 exercise

The exercise is scheduled for March and April 2022 and will be led by the

Norwegian Joint Headquarters The Norwegian Joint Headquarters, NJHQ (, FOH) is the Norwegian Armed Forces operational commando-center. It is located at Reitan in Bodø Municipality, where during the Cold War NATO's Allied Command North Norway was based. The current organiza ...

. The first allied troops arrived in Norway in the autumn and winter 2021–22 to train and prepare for the exercise. The military activity took take place in south-eastern Norway,

Central Norway Central Norway (, ) is an informal, unclearly defined region of Norway. In its most limited usage, the term "Central Norway" may refer only to Trøndelag county; however, it may also be understood to include all or parts of the county of Møre og ...

and

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

. As of March 2022, a total of 27 nations and approximately 30,000 troops are signed up for the exercise. According to a Norwegian Joint Headquarters spokesman, this is 5,000 fewer troops than expected due to the concurrent

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

The 2024 exercise

Finnish Marines load gear into a Swedish CB90-class fast assault craft from the stern gate of USS Gunston Hall during Steadfast Defender 2024

4—15 March In 2024, the exercise was renamed ''Nordic Response'', reflecting the NATO accession of

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, ...

and

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 ...

. NATO initiated the Nordic Response 2024 exercise with over 20,000 troops from 13 nations, including Finland, Norway and Sweden. The drill is conducted in Arctic conditions.

Accidents

Leopard 2 through the ice

Two Norwegian soldiers from the

died when a

Leopard 2 The Leopard 2 is a third generation German main battle tank (MBT). Developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s, the tank entered service in 1979 and replaced the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West German army. Various iterat ...

tank went through the ice in 2006.

C-130 Hercules accident

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

crashed during the exercise in the north of

on 15 March 2012 where all five on board were killed."Went almost clear of the mountainside"
, ''

Teknisk Ukeblad ''Teknisk Ukeblad'' (''TU'', ) is a Norwegian engineering magazine. The magazine has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway. History and profile ''TU'' has appeared weekly since 13 April 1883 and was published by Ingeniørforlaget, now Teknisk Ukeblad ...

'' 19 March 2012. Retrieved: 7 August 2012.

MV-22B Osprey accident

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

MV-22B Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionalit ...

aircraft crashed in

Beiarn Municipality Beiarn is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. Beiarn is also a part of the Bodø Region, a statistical metropolitan region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village ...

during the exercise on 18 March 2022. All 4 crew members were killed.

References

{{reflist NATO military exercises Military of Norway Events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic