Transit country for allied aid to Sweden and Finland.

On Wednesday, hundreds of military vehicles and containers will be unloaded in Narvik. NATO forces practice sending reinforcements quickly to Sweden and Finland. Norway has a key role.

American soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division will train in Finland. The freighter ARC Integrity comes with 200 vehicles and 300 containers. From Narvik everything goes on to Finland via Sweden. The goal is the exercise Immediate Response 2024. It is part of NATO’s giant exercise Steadfast Defender, and it is taking place in Europe throughout 2024.

The unloading in Narvik on Wednesday morning marks a new era for Nordic defence.

Norway is no longer a terminus for receiving Allied reinforcements. Now Norway must ensure that reinforcements can be sent on to the new NATO members Sweden and Finland. This means that safe reception ports must be offered. Personnel must be accommodated and equipment stored while further transport is prepared.

– Although Swedish and Finnish membership strengthens the alliance, it also entails an increased responsibility for Norway as a receiving and transit country for military reinforcements for the entire North Calotte.

This is what Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen writes in a comment on the government’s proposed long-term plan for the Armed Forces. It was presented just after Easter.

Eirik Kristoffersen

Not a double track in sight

NATO will make demands for good transport routes and resilient infrastructure. The port of Narvik has been singled out as one of four ports in the Nordic region that is given special priority.

The others are Trondheimsfjorden, Gothenburg and Esbjerg.

For Norway, limited connections to the east are a challenge. The Ofot line from Narvik to Kiruna (called Malmbanan in Swedish) is an important transport route. This winter it was closed for several months due to derailment, and there have been demands for double tracks on the section.

The Norwegian government is currently only planning for a few new crossing tracks on the route. Also on the Swedish side, double tracks are waiting. The price for double track was estimated three years ago at over NOK 20 billion. The Norwegian part will clearly cost the most, even though the distance from the border to Kiruna is twice as long as from Narvik to the border.

It’s hectic on the Ofotobanen. The Norwegian section is 42 kilometers long, but accounts for 60 percent of the country’s freight volume in tonnes.

– Ofotbanen is important for the Armed Forces. With Sweden and Finland as NATO members, it gains increased importance.

Kristoffersen told High North News in February.

– After this derailment, I think the priority of Malmbanan has increased, said the Swedish commander captain Stefan Lundqvist to the same newspaper.

– The ore rail section to Narvik is one of the biggest bottlenecks we have, he said.

Exercises in a row

Some of the material that arrives on Wednesday is transported to the Elvegårdsmoen camp. It is located deep in the Ofotfjorden. The site was prepared for the reception of allied forces for the winter’s major exercise Nordic Response. Eventually, personnel and material will be transported by train on the Ofotbanen, over Bjørnfjell and along the road via Sweden and to Finland. The Finnish winter exercise Northern Forest is held there. Forces from the Finnmark Land Defense will also participate.

Immediate Response lasts the whole month of May. The exercise includes more than 22,000 soldiers from the United States and 11 NATO countries. It will take place in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland.