In the middle of this month, the Royal Norwegian Air Force (Luftforsvaret) deployed one of its F-35A stealth fighters to Bardufoss Air Base, which has facilities and hangars located within mountains, with plans to transfer new units in the future. nearby. This is an attempt by the Nordic country to recover facilities that had been in disuse for more than four decades, since its design dates back to 1938 and its retirement occurred in the final phase of the Cold War.
The Luftforsvaret’s decision corresponds to a new strategy that seeks to increase the protection of the F-35A when they are on the ground, something that will be achieved by complementing this deployment under the mountains with measures such as keeping them in bases dispersed from each other. This meant that the Bardufoss Air Base had to undergo significant renovation work, mainly in the hangar structures, and updating of equipment to facilitate possible deployments of allied aircraft.
In this regard, Brigadier Tron Strand, who serves as head of the Joint Air Operations Center (JAOC), has made the following statements: “Bardufoss Air Station plays an important role in the future development of Norwegian, Nordic and allied air power (…) NATO is highly focused on the ability of nations to rapidly disperse and move air forces through the development of the Agile Combat concept Employment or ACE“.
For his part, Colonel Eirik Stueland, commander of the 131st Air Wing of the Norwegian Air Force (to which Bardufoss Air Base depends), declared: “Bardufoss is also used as a civil airport; is well prepared to take on a leading role in the operational distribution concept (…) The general idea of capacity dispersion is to be able to use all available airports throughout the Nordic region; In Bardufoss, thanks to the existing infrastructure, we will also be able to play a greater role in an initial mobilization phase.“
It is worth stating that this new deployment strategy of the Luftforsvaret is not at all a random step, but rather responds without a doubt to the increase in NATO tensions with Russia, in the face of what is a war in Ukraine that has already been going on. more than two years and sees the possibilities of peace from afar. In that sense, Norway has not only reactivated the Bardufoss facilities for military use, but has also begun to strengthen its air defense systems at the Evenes bases and its counterpart in Ørland.
In short, with the recent entry into the Atlantic Alliance of Sweden and Finland, significant investments have been allocated to guarantee the interoperability of their fleets at Norwegian Air Force bases. Following this line, other statements by Brigadier Strand are collected: “On the other hand, the Air Force must be able to disperse its fighter aircraft and operate from other airports and air stations, both in Norway and in the Nordic countries, if a crisis or war requires it (…) This means that we must use the mountain facilities available to protect us. Within the framework of Norway’s national operational distribution concept, we use the entire Bardufoss air station. Firstly, it is about being prepared and, in the long term, this may mean more national and allied activity here.“
*Image credits: Luftforsvaret
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