The Norwegian Armed Forces () are the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

responsible for the defence of

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 ...

. It consists of five branches, the

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army () is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway in 1628. The ...

, 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 ...

, which includes the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

, 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 ...

, the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

, and

Norwegian Cyber Defence Force The Norwegian Cyber Defence Force () is a branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for military communications and defensive cyberwarfare in Norway. The force employs 1,500 people located at more than 60 locations. The main base is at J� ...

as well as several joint departments. The military force in peacetime is around 17,185 personnel including military and civilian staff, and around 70,000 in total with the current military personnel, conscripts and 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 ...

in full mobilization. Among European NATO members, the military expenditure of US$7.2 billion is the highest per capita.

History

An organised military was first assembled in Norway in the 9th century and its early focus was naval warfare. The army was created in 1628 as part of

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ) is a term for the 16th-to-19th-century multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (includ ...

, followed by two centuries of regular wars. A Norwegian military was established in 1814, but the military did not see combat until the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

in 1940. Norway abandoned its position as a

neutral country A neutral country is a sovereign state, state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts (including avoiding entering into military alliances such as NATO, Collective Sec ...

in 1949 to become a founding member of the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

(NATO). The

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

saw a large build-up of air stations and military bases, especially in

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 ...

. Since the 2000s, the military has transformed from a focus on defence from an invasion to a mobile force for international missions. Norway had its combat units withdraw from the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

in 2021. During the war, Norwegian combat forces had been on loan to

ISAF The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...

, and later on loan to

Resolute Support Mission Resolute Support Mission (RSM) or Operation Resolute Support was a NATO-led multinational mission in Afghanistan. It began on 1 January 2015 as the successor to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was completed on 28 Dece ...

Organisation

The formal commander-in-chief is

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Harald V Harald V (, ; born 21 February 1937) has been King of Norway since 1991. A member of the House of Glücksburg, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the line of succ ...

; however, the '' de facto'' supreme decision-making is made by the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, led by the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The

Chief of Defence A chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked Officer (armed forces), commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national ...

(a four-star general or admiral) is the professional head and leader of the armed forces, and is the principal military adviser to the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

. The Chief of Defence and his staff is located at

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress (, ) or Akershus Castle ( ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress has been the namesake and centre of the ...

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 ...

, while 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 ...

, responsible for commanding operations, is located in Bodø. The main naval base is

Haakonsvern Haakonsvern is the main base of the Royal Norwegian Navy and the largest naval base in the Nordic area. The base is located at Mathopen within Bergen municipality, about 15 km south-west of the city centre. Around 5,400 people work at the base as ...

Bergen Municipality 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 ...

, the main army camps are located at

Setermoen Setermoen is the administrative centre of Bardu Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The village is located along the Barduelva river, about east of the village of Sjøvegan and about south of Bardufoss. In 1999, the municipal council of ...

Bardu Municipality Bardu ( and ) is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Setermoen, the largest urban area in the municipality. The municipality is the 18th largest by area out of the 357 municip ...

Bardufoss or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and commercial centre in Målselv Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The urban area was formally established as a town under Norwegian law in 2021 when the three villages of Andselv, Andslimo ...

Målselv Municipality Målselv () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moen, Troms, Moen. The main commercial centre of the municipality is the ...

, and Rena in

Åmot Municipality Åmot is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rena ...

. The main air station is

Ørland Main Air Station Ørland Main Air Station (Norwegian: Ørland hovedflystasjon) is situated at the mouth of the Trondheimsfjorden in Ørland Municipality in Trøndelag county in the center of Norway. Ørland is operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force and is an i ...

Ørland Municipality Ørland is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen Districts of Norway, region. Ørland is located at the southwestern tip of the Fosen peninsula at the northern ...

. Military branches (in order of seniority): *

* Norwegian Special Operation Forces (NORSOF) Other main structures include: * Defence Staff Norway (DEFSTNOR) in

acts as the staff of the Chief of Defence. It is headed by a three-star general or admiral. DEFSTNOR assigns priorities, manages resources, provides force generation and support activities. Each of the four branches of defence is headed by a two-star general/admiral who are subordinate to DEFSTNOR. *

(NJHQ) located at Reitan, close to Bodø has operational control of Norwegian armed forces worldwide 24/7. It is headed by the Supreme Commander Norwegian Forces – a three-star general or admiral. * Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation (NDLO) at

Kolsås Kolsås (), sometimes called Kolsaas, is a hill in the municipality of Bærum, Norway. Geologically, Kolsås belongs to the Oslo Graben area. Its two peaks consist of hard rhomb porphyric lava covering softer rocks, forming steep cliffs to the ...

Bærum Municipality Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). The administr ...

(just outside

) is responsible for engineering, procurement, investment, supply, information and communications technology. It is also responsible for the maintenance, repair and storage of materials.

Conscription

Brigadens soldater samvirker med helikopter fra Luftforsvaret

Conscription was constitutionally established on 12 April 1907 with ''Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov § 119''. Norway employs a weak form of

mandatory military service Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

for men and women. While 62,873 men and women were called in for the examination of persons liable for military service in 2010 (mandatory for men), 9,631 were conscripted. In practice recruits are not forced to serve, instead only those who are motivated are selected. In earlier times, up until at least the early 2000s, all men aged 19–44 were subject to mandatory service, with good reasons required to avoid becoming drafted. Since 1985, women have been able to enlist for voluntary service as regular recruits. On 14 June 2013, the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

voted to extend conscription to women. In 2015 conscription was extended to women making Norway the first

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 ...

member and first European country to make national service compulsory for both men and women. In 2020, women made up one-third of new conscripts. There is a right of

conscientious objection A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

. Students of professional subjects (doctors, psychologists, pharmacists, dentists, etc.) may serve their conscription after completing a six weeks course, receiving

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

ranking when they begin their service. This arrangement is called Conscript Academic Officer ( Norwegian: Vernepliktige akademikere (VA)). In 2020, the media said that "several soldiers said that they were informed about additional four months of service; the information was given after military service had started".

Structure

Joint

in Bodø *

Norwegian Intelligence Service The Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) or () is a Norway, Norwegian military intelligence agency under the Chief of Defence (Norway), Chief of Defence and the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Defence. History Olav Njølstad says tha ...

* Tactical Mobile Land/Maritime Command * Joint

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

Unit (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) ** Module based ISTAR Unit **

Norwegian Coastal Ranger Command ''Kystjegerkommandoen'' (, or ''KJK'') is a unit in the Royal Norwegian Navy. KJK is a marine commando unit trained to operate in littoral combat theatres, filling the role of marines and coastal artillery. The unit consists of coastal rangers an ...

(''Kystjegerkommandoen'' in Norwegian) **

Unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

capability * Airborne Ground Surveillance (joint

project) *

– 12 districts with 40,500 personnel, rapid reaction forces, follow-on-forces, reinforcement forces and reserves. * Capacity for information operations * Norwegian Defence Security Department (NORDSD) * Flexible medical units * NRBC protection (Nuclear, radiological, biological, chemical weapons) *

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fu ...

* Joint C2I Unit (command, control and information) * Civil Military Coordination Unit (

CIMIC Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) involves military commanders establishing connections with civilian agencies in operational theaters. Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) activities are coordinated through the "G9" staff branch in division ...

) * Deployable logistical support * Norwegian ISAF soldiers

2 mobilisation host country battalions (logistics for allied reinforcements)

Norwegian Army

From 1 August 2023 the Norwegian Army has this structure: *

Brigade Nord Brigade Nord (Brig. N.; Northern Brigade) is the major combat formation and only brigade of the Norwegian Army, consisting of eight battalions and one military police company. It is mostly based in Troms (Bardu Municipality and Målselv Municipalit ...

(operational units) ** Armoured Battalion (), in

with Leopard 2A4NO

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank or simply tank,Ogorkiewicz 2018 p222 is a tank that fills the role of armour-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more po ...

s and

CV90 The Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90) (, strf 90 or Stridsfordon 90) is a family of Swedish tracked armoured combat vehicles designed by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), Hägglund & Söner and Bofors during the mid-1980s to early 1 ...

infantry fighting vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle and armoured personnel carrier used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct fire, direct-fire suppo ...

s ** 2nd Battalion (), mechanized infantry in Skjold with

Bandvagn 206 Bandvagn 206 (bv 206) (meaning ''"Tracked Vehicle 206"'' in English) is a tracked articulated, all-terrain carrier initially developed and manufactured by the Swedish company Hägglund & Söner, and subsequently by BAE Systems Hägglunds, for ...

vehicles **

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. ...

(), in Rena with Leopard 2A4NO main battle tanks and CV90 infantry fighting vehicles ** Artillery Battalion (), in Setermoen with

K9 Thunder The K9 Thunder is a South Korean 155 mm self-propelled howitzer designed and developed by the Agency for Defense Development and private corporations including Dongmyeong Heavy Industries, Kia Heavy Industry, Poongsan Corporation, and Samsun ...

self-propelled howitzers Self-propelled may refer to * Human-powered transport, humans moving themselves (and their cargo) via their own muscle energy * Machines that power their own movement: ** Automobile (from ''auto-'' + ''mobile'', "self-moving") ** Locomotive (from ...

Combat Engineer A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, Tunnel warfare, tunnel and l ...

Battalion (), in Skjold **

Signals A signal is both the process and the result of Signal transmission, transmission of data over some transmission media, media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processin ...

Battalion (), in Bardufoss **

Medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

Battalion (), in Setermoen **

Combat Service Support The term combat service support (or CSS) is utilized by numerous military organizations throughout the world to describe entities that provide direct and indirect sustainment services to the groups that engage (or are potentially to be engaged) ...

Battalion (), in Bardufoss **

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

Company (), in Bardufoss * Finnmark Territorial Defence () **

Garrison of Sør-Varanger Ranger Battalion GSV (, formerly known as the Garrison of Sør-Varanger) is a border guard light infantry battalion unit in the Norwegian Army that monitors the border between Norway and Russia. It is located at Høybuktmoen in Sør-Varanger Mu ...

Porsanger Battalion The Porsanger Battalion is an armoured reconnaissance unit of the Norwegian Army. The battalion is based in Garrison of Porsanger, as part of the Finnmark Land Command. History The Battalion was established May 1st 2020. Current organisation ...

() **(Finnmark 17th Home Guard District () permanently attached to the army-lead FTD) * Army Land Warfare Centre * His Majesty the King's Guard * Logistics and Operational Support * Operation Support Detachment

Royal Norwegian Navy

* 4

Aegis The aegis ( ; ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex, a ...

frigates * 6 fast missile boats. * 6 submarines * Mine Warfare Capability ** 6 (8) s and s *

** Tactical Boat Squadron () * Norwegian Naval EOD Command (divers) * Fleet Logistics Command ** Supply ship ''Maud'' ** Royal yacht ''Norge'' ** ''Magnus Lagabøte'' ** ''Olav Trygvasson'' *

** 1 ''Svalbard''-class vessel ** 3 ''Barentshav'' class vessels ** 3 ** Leased vessels ( and KV ''Ålesund'', , 6 ocean patrol vessels) ** Inner coast guard (25 leased vessels) ** Tug capacity

Royal Norwegian Air Force

* 49

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both air superiority and strike missions, it also has electronic warfa ...

(52 ordered) * 74 General dynamics F16A/B and AM/AB 30 jets still active soon to be retired * 2 Air Control Centre/Recognized Air picture Production Centre/Sensor Fusion post (''ARS Sørreisa'' and ''ARS Mågerø'') * Strategic Airlift / Aerial refueling (common NATO projects) * Maritime surveillance 5 P-8 Poseidon. ) * Transport 5x

C-130J Super Hercules The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems. The C-130J is the ...

* Air Defence (

NASAMS NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, also known as Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) is a short- to medium-range ground-based air defense system developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) and RTX Corpor ...

3) * Air Wing for Special Forces (6 x

Bell 412 The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter of the Huey family manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212, with the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. It is a twin-turbine helicopter that has been ...

) * 18+

transport helicopters * Deployable base support * 16

AW101 The AgustaWestland AW101 is a medium-lift helicopter in military and civil use. First flown in 1987, it was developed by a joint venture between Westland Helicopters in the United Kingdom and Agusta in Italy in response to national requiremen ...

search and rescue helicopter (replaced 12 Sea King helicopters)

Norwegian Home Guard

Norwegian Cyber Defence Force

Norwegian Special Forces

The Norwegian ''Special Operations Command'' (NORSOCOM) (''Forsvarets Spesialstyrker'' (''FS''), was formed on 1 January 2014 by bringing the Special Operations Command (''FSK''), The army's special warfare unit, and the Naval Special Operations Command (''MJK''), The navy's special warfare unit, together under a unified command. NORSOCOM (''Forsvarets Spesialstyrker'' (''FS'')),

* Chief of NORSOCOM, a two-star officer, member of the Commander of the Armed Forces's management group * Taktisk Kommando (TAKOM) - special forces-specific command element embedded with the Norwegian Joint Headquarters (''FOH'')) outside Bodø. * Special Operations Command () (''FSK''), at Rena Army Camp, part of Østerdal Garrison ** FSK Staff ** unknown number of combat squadrons ** Paratrooper Troop- platoon consisting of conscripts highly trained for raid and airborne

operations. ** Hunter Troop - special reconnaissance training unit made up of female conscripts ** Initial and Operational Special Forces Training Base on the tiny islet of Vealøs facing the former Karljohansvern Naval Base in

Horten Municipality Horten () is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. Other population centers in Horten Municipality include the t ...

* Naval Special Operations Command () (''MJK''), at Jaeger's Bight in Haakonsvern Naval Base, near

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 ...

. A research paper of the

Norwegian Defence Research Establishment The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (''Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt'' – ''FFI'') is a research institute that conducts research and development on behalf of the Norwegian Armed Forces and provides expert advice to political and m ...

puts the force structure of the MJK at a staff and six combat squadrons **MJK Staff **Alfa Squadron - combat divers squadron, Norway's premier naval special warfare unit **Bravo Squadron - combat divers squadron, entry unit for recent graduates of the frogmen training course **Reconnaissance Squadron - special reconnaissance and intelligence unit **Echo Squadron - special boat squadron **Lima Squadron - combat support squadron **Training Squadron, at Ramsund Naval War Station in

Tjeldsund Municipality or is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The southwestern part of the municipality is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Ofoten and the rest of the municipality is ...

*339 Special Operations Aviation Squadron (339 Skvadron) (339 SKV), at

Rygge Air Station Rygge Air Force Base () is located in the municipalities of Moss and Råde in Østfold county, Norway. The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) operates various squadrons and aircraft at the airbase, including AgustaWestland AW101 ''SAR Queen'' an ...

and

Bardufoss Air Station Bardufoss Air Station () is a military air station located at Bardufoss in Målselv Municipality in Troms county in Northern Norway. It is the location of the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) 139 Air Wing and two helicopter squadrons; the 337 ...

, flying Bell 412SP helicopters, providing air support to the special forces. Being an air force unit, chief NORSOCOM executes tactical command of 339 SOAS. *Special Operations Air Task Group (SOATG), at Rygge Air Station, providing operational planning, command and control for Norwegian Air Force assets deployed in support of special operations.

Norwegian Defence University College

The Norwegian Defence University College (''NDUC'') () is the institution in charge of officer and NCO training, re-qualification and military studies. The officer schools of the separate armed services are departments under NDUC and thus independent from their respective services. The central administration of the NDUC is located at the historic

in the city center of Oslo.

Leadership

Chief of the NDUC The NDUC is headed by the Chief of the NDUC (''sjef FHS'', also referred to as ''rektor''), a

two-star rank Military star ranking is military terminology, used in mainly English speaking countries, to describe general and flag officers. Within NATO's armed forces, the stars are equal to OF-6–10. Star ranking One-star A one-star rank is usuall ...

. Leading Group The Chief of the NDUC is assisted by the Leading Group (or the Leader's Group, ''Ledergruppen''), composed of the NDUC's Chief of Staff (''stabssjef''), the officer in charge of academic work (''dekan''), the chiefs of the Military Academy (''Krigsskolen'', the army officer school), the Air Force Academy (''Luftkrigsskolen'', the air force officer school) and the Naval Academy (''Sjøkrigsskolen'', the naval officer school), the Chief of the Cyber Engineer Academy (Cyberingeniørskolen, the recently established Cyber Defence branch's officer school), the Chief of the NCO School (''Befalsskolen'', joint for the armed forces), the directors of the two institutes for military studies and the NDUC's Command Sergeant Major (''sjefssersjant''). Managing Board The Managing Board of the NDUC (''Høgskolestyret'') is the governing body and it includes the Chief of the NDUC, The chiefs of the Army (''Hæren''), Navy (''Sjøforsvaret'') and the Air Force (''Luftforsvaret''), three members of the board (''tre ansattrepresentanter''), one external (audit) member of the board (ekstern representant) and one student (cadet or civilian) member of the board (''studentrepresentant''). NDUC HS Administration The NDUC Administration is composed of two staffs (administrative staff (''Driftsstab'') and academic work staff (''Fagstab'').

Departments

The following departments form the AFHS: Norwegian National Defence Staff College The Norwegian National Defence Staff College (''FHS Stabsskolen'') is located in the Akershus Fortress and provides education in general military studies, common to the services, such as strategic military leadership, international peacekeeping operations, Military-Civilian Cooperation etc. It offers Bachelor and Masters programs as well as advanced academic programs. Defence Intelligence College The Defence Intelligence College (''Språk- og etterretningsskolen'') is located at the

Lutvann Lutvann is a lake in the recreational area Østmarka in Oslo, Norway. It covers an area of 0.39 km², at 205 m elevation. Located just outside the capital city, it is a popular site for recreation, including swimming and fishing during summ ...

Barracks (''Lutvann leir'') in Oslo and the intelligence officer course is a three-year Bachelor program.

Norwegian Military Academy The Norwegian Military Academy (), in Oslo, educates officers of the Norwegian Army and serves as the King's Royal Guard. The academy was established in 1750, and is the oldest institution for higher education in Norway. History The Commander- ...

The Norwegian Military Academy (''Krigsskolen'') is the Norwegian army officer school, located at the

Linderud Linderud is a neighborhood in Bjerke (borough), Bjerke borough, Oslo, Norway. The area originally formed part of the estate of Linderud Manor. Linderud Manor Linderud Manor ''(Linderud gård'') was owned by the Catholic Church before the Prote ...

Barracks (Linderud leir) in Oslo. It provides officer training and professional development, as well as a NCO training program for high school students (''videregående befalsutdanning''). Air Force Academy The Air Force Academy (''Luftkrigsskolen'') is the Norwegian air force officer school, located in the Kuhaugen area in

Trondheim Municipality Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populou ...

. It provides officer training and professional development, as well as a NCO training program for high school students (''videregående befalsutdanning''). Naval Academy The Naval Academy (''Sjøkrigsskolen'') is the Norwegian navy officer school, located in the

Laksevåg Laksevåg is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough is located in the western part of the municipality. Historically, the area was called ''Laxevaag'', and it was a separate municipality until 1972 when it was ...

area in

. It provides officer training and professional development, as well as a NCO training program for high school students (''videregående befalsutdanning''). Cyber Engineer Academy The Cyber Engineer Academy (''Cyberingeniørskolen'') is the

officer school, located at the Jørstadmoen Barracks (''Jørstadmoen leir'') in

Fåberg Fåberg is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1964 when it became part of Lillehammer Municipality in Innlandet county. The administrative c ...

Lillehammer Municipality Lillehammer Municipality is the local government for Lillehammer, Norway. The administration is located in the town of Lillehammer. The municipality is governed by a 47-member municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a ...

. It provides training for officer training in communication and information system operations. NCO School The NCO School (''Befalsskolen'') is a joint institution, training sergeants for all the services. It is located at the Sessvollmoen Barracks (''Sessvollmoen leir'') in

Sessvollmoen Sessvollmoen is a village in the municipality of Ullensaker, 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 Ma ...

near Oslo - Gardermoen IAP. The school was established in 2019 by merging the NCO school of the army (''Hærens befalsskole''), navy (''Befalsskolen for Sjøforsvaret''), air force (''Luftforsvarets flygeskole''), engineering services (''Forsvarets ingeniørhøgskole''), military intelligence service (''Forsvarets etterretningshøgskole'') and the

(''Heimevernets befalsskole'').

Centers

Institute for Defence Studies The Institute for Defence Studies (''Institutt for forsvarsstudier'') is located at the Akershus Fortress. It is organised in four centres: Centre for Norwegian and European Security, Centre for Civil-Military Relations, Centre for Asian Studies and Centre for Transatlantic Studies Armed Forces Higher School Strategic Course The Strategic Course (''FSH / Sjefskurs'') trains senior military officers and high-ranking government officials in strategic military command and national security studies. It uses the education resources of the Institute for Defence Studies, but it is independent from it, directly subordinated to the Chief of the AFHS.

Small arms and handguns

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (, ) is a submachine gun developed in the 1960s by German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It uses a similar modular design to the Heckler & Koch G3, and has over 100 variants and clones, including selective fire, Se ...

– replaced by the MP7 in most positions, used by parts of the Home Guard *

Heckler & Koch MP7 The Heckler & Koch MP7 (German: ''Maschinenpistole 7'') is a personal defense weapon chambered for the HK 4.6×30mm armor-piercing cartridge designed by German defence manufacturer Heckler & Koch. History It was designed (together with the ...

- standard issue SMG *

Heckler & Koch HK416 The Heckler & Koch HK416 is an assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO Cartridge (firearms), cartridge. It is designed and manufactured by the German company Heckler & Koch. Although the design is based on the AR-15 class of firearm (sp ...

– standard assault rifle *

Heckler & Koch HK417 The Heckler & Koch HK417 is a battle rifle designed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. Being the larger caliber version of the Heckler & Koch HK416, and chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO rifle cartridge, it is intended for use where the penet ...

- designated marksman rifle * Colt Canada C8SFW – special forces only *

Barrett M82 The Barrett M82 (standardized by the U.S. military as the M107) is a Recoil operation, recoil-operated, semi-automatic rifle, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing and produced in the United States. Als ...

Barrett MRAD The Barrett MRAD (Multi-role Adaptive Design) is a bolt-action sniper rifle designed by Barrett to meet the requirements of the SOCOM PSR. The MRAD is based on the Barrett 98B and includes a number of modifications and improvements. The Barre ...

Glock 17 Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

– standard issue pistol, replaced by the MP7 in some positions *

Heckler & Koch USP The Heckler & Koch USP (''Universelle Selbstladepistole'' or "universal self-loading pistol") is a semi-automatic pistol developed in Germany by Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) as a replacement for the P7 series of handguns. History Design work on a ...

– in use with special forces *

Rheinmetall MG3 The MG 3 is a German general-purpose machine gun chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The weapon's design is derived from the World War II era MG 42 that fired the 7.92×57mm Mauser round. The MG 3 was standardized in the late 1950s ...

– partly replaced by FN Minimi and Minimi 7,62 Mk3 as crew weapon *

FN Minimi The FN Minimi (short for ; "mini machine gun") is a Belgian 5.56mm or 7.62mm light machine gun, also classified as a squad automatic weapon developed by Ernest Vervier for FN Herstal. Introduced in the late 1970s, it is in service in more than ...

* Minimi 7,62 Mk3 *

M2 Browning The M2 machine gun or Browning .50-caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed near the end of World War I by John Browning. While similar to Browning's M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered ...

M72 LAW The M72 LAW (light anti-tank weapon, also referred to as the light anti-armor weapon or LAW as well as LAWS: light anti-armor weapons system) is a portable one-shot unguided anti-tank weapon. In early 1963, the M72 LAW was adopted by the U.S. ...

– light anti-armour weapon *

Carl Gustav recoilless rifle The Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle (, named after '' Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori'', which initially produced it) is a Swedish-developed caliber shoulder-fired recoilless rifle, initially developed by the Royal Swedish Army Mate ...

– anti-armour weapon *

FGM-148 Javelin The FGM-148 Javelin, or Advanced Anti-Tank Weapon System-Medium (AAWS-M), is an American-made man-portable anti-tank system in service since 1996 and continuously upgraded. It replaced the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in US service. Its fire-and-f ...

– anti-armour guided missile *

M320 Grenade Launcher Module M320 Grenade Launcher Module (GLM) is the U.S. military's designation for a new single-shot List of 40 mm grenades, 40 mm grenade launcher system to replace the M203 grenade launcher, M203 for the U.S. Army, while other services initially kept ...

References

Bibliography

External links

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