Norway expands Arctic Finnmark Brigade with artillery, air defence and communications units

Norway announced on Thursday that its recently formed Finnmark Brigade, the country's second unit stationed in the Arctic, will be reinforced with an artillery battalion, an air-defence battery and a communications company. These additions allow the brigade to engage land targets roughly 40 km away and to synchronize fire with Norwegian and NATO aircraft and ships. Brigadier John Olav Fuglem said the enhancement represents a "completely different level of firepower" than previously available.

Defence Minister Tore Sandvik affirmed that Norway will respond to any threat or attack on its territory or NATO's. The move comes as Norway, like other Nordic states, has lifted defence spending to an estimated 3.17 % of GDP, up from 1.5 % in 2014, placing it among NATO's top spenders. The brigade's headquarters at Porsangmoen lies about 180 km from the Russian border, where the neighboring region hosts the Northern Fleet, and the Russian embassy in Oslo declined to comment.