Norway to acquire two more submarines and long-range missiles
Kyiv • UNN
The Norwegian Ministry of Defense will acquire two more submarines and long-range artillery from Germany, increasing the total cost of the order to almost 100 billion kroner. This is due to rising prices for raw materials and defense equipment, as well as the need to counter the activity of Russian submarines.
Norway's Ministry of Defense announced on Friday that it plans to acquire two more submarines from Germany and separately several units of long-range artillery at a significantly higher price than before, partly due to high demand for military equipment, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
Details
According to media reports, this submarine order complements the four submarines that the Scandinavian country has already ordered from the German company Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE). The new submarines will also be ordered from Thyssenkrupp's marine division, recently spun off into a separate company, TKMS (TKMS.DE).
Shares of TKMS, which confirmed the deal, rose 1%.
The new order will amount to 46 billion kroner, bringing the total cost of the submarines close to 100 billion kroner, partly due to rising prices for raw materials and defense equipment.
Addendum
NATO countries are increasing defense spending under pressure from US President Donald Trump and alarmed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Norway monitors NATO over a large area of 2 million square kilometers (772,000 square miles) in the North Atlantic, which is used by nuclear submarines of the Russian Northern Fleet.
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A key task of the submarines will be to monitor Russian submarines, whose base is on the Kola Peninsula, in the Arctic region bordering Norway.
"We see that Russian forces in the North Atlantic and the Barents Sea are increasing their activity," said Defense Minister Tore Sandvik.
The first of the six submarines is expected to be delivered in 2029, the ministry said.
In addition, Norway plans to purchase long-range missiles for its army, capable of hitting targets at a distance of 500 km (310 miles) for 19 billion kroner.
The war in Ukraine and the prevalence of missile strikes have shown Western countries the need to build up their capabilities.
"It is important for us to have a defense capability that can deter a potential adversary from harming us," Sandvik said in a statement.