Wants a NATO air center in Norway

A Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) is to be established to support NATO’s force command in Norfolk, USA, says Chief of the Air Force, Rolf Folland.

A CAOC monitors the airspace in a designated area. The operations center, which will possibly be located in Norway, would then monitor the northern areas.

He says it is natural that Norway is a good candidate for a CAOC, largely because of where the country is located geopolitically and that the Norwegian Air Force already has a national air operations center in the Joint Air Operations Center (JAOC) department.

– We have that position when it comes to bringing Sweden and Finland into NATO countries and processes on the command and control side. So it is not very surprising that we are pointed at, says the air chief.

The Air Force’s JAOC was created earlier this year after merging the National Air Operations Center, Special Operations Air Task Group (SOATG) and 131 Air Wing.

This center is located in several places in Norway: in Sørreisa, at Reitan and at Rygge.

Folland says they want to make their JAOC available to Nato and create a CJAOC (Combined Joint Air Operations Centre).

– Now our national JAOC will hopefully become the stem of a larger NATO air command on the Northern Flank and integrated with air operations centers in Sweden, Finland and Denmark. This gives us toughness and robustness. The solution is very good, and I think NATO also sees that, he says.

Uedem, Torrejón and Norway?

Today, Nato has three Joint Force Commands located in Brunssum in the Netherlands, Naples in Italy and Norfolk in the USA.

These force commands are subordinate to NATO’s supreme command, SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) in Casteau in Belgium.

Both the force commands in Brunssum and Naples each have their own CAOC. Brunssum has his CAOC in Uedem in Germany, and is responsible for NATO’s airspace around Iceland and in the Baltics.

Naples has its CAOC in Torrejón, just outside Madrid in Spain, and is responsible for, among other things, the Black Sea.

Norfolk, on the other hand, has no CAOC – yet. Folland believes it would be beneficial for NATO to use Norway’s JAOC as Norfolk’s CAOC, thus CJAOC, because the foundation is already present.

– If you had been given a type of CAOC to support Joint Force Command Norfolk located in Great Britain or Denmark, then we would have had to duplicate the personnel. We had to have sent people there, plus we had to have our national, says the air chief.

More requirements

There are several demands from NATO regarding where a future CAOC should be located.

Among other things, a CAOC must be located in a protected facility with military guarding with room for approximately 400 people.

Nato also points out that a CAOC should be located either on or in the immediate vicinity of a military air station.

Since there will also be several international representatives who will live and work there for several years, one must think about the need in terms of personnel and families. That means housing, international schools and the ease of being able to fly in and out of Norway.

Folland, on the other hand, will not say anything more concrete about the location for a possible Norwegian CJAOC.

– There are some demands that come into play. Then we can all make our assumptions and do the math, but I don’t want to say anything about it, because it is a NATO decision, he says.

– On the offer page

In the long-term plan for the Armed Forces, which the government presented on 5 April, it is stated that the development of the national air operations center continues, and that any decision on development into a regional air operations center will be seen in the context of ongoing assessments in NATO.

“The development of the ability to manage air operations regionally is seen in the context of the development of the Armed Forces’ operational headquarters,” it also says.

Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) tells the Defense Forum that he is positive about an air operations center in Norway, but that in the end it is NATO that decides.

– We must now be a bit on the supply side, of course. We have a good starting point in Norway, so we’ll see. But the most important thing for us is Norfolk, in addition to ensuring the development of the Norwegian Armed Forces’ operational headquarters at Reitan, he says.

Gram adds that it has not been decided whether Norfolk will get an air operational base yet, but that a process is currently underway in Nato.

The Minister of Defense believes that it has always been important for Norway to be on the NATO map in terms of NATO functions and command structure.

– There are many ways in which such a center can be designed. We must have facilities and different things. But should it come to that, we will get it done in a good way, he says.

To be decided before the summer

During exercise Nordic Response, the Air Force was given the responsibility by Nato to support the force command in Norfolk with an operations centre, then called the Nordic Air Operations Centre.

The Air Force then created a CJAOC where the Army, the Navy, the special forces and the Cyber ​​Defense were also part of the centre.

– Nato liked this, and therefore it looks like Nato wants a combined JAOC in Norway to support Joint Force Command Norfolk, says Folland.

However, the time to establish a CAOC for Norfolk is running out. Force Command in Norfolk is to be fully operational by 2025.

Folland says that NATO’s decision on where Norfolk’s CAOC will be located will probably come before the summer, and that Norway must then know its visiting time and act quickly.

– We must avoid a lengthy and complicated process. If NATO approves the Norwegian alternative, we must act quickly and show our allies that we are able to deliver, he says.

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