The Norwegian Defence Ministry has said that a number of projects are underway to strengthen the country’s ability to protect against drones, both through the procurement of individual drone defence systems and as part of the procurement of other military systems.
The Norwegian Government announced on March 27 that it will allocate an additional NOK 115 billion (EUR 10.24 billion) to the ministry’s Long-term Defence Plan for the period up to 2036. NOK 31 billion (EUR 2.76 billion) of this will be provided by 2030.
The increased funding is proposed for a number of areas, including enhancing capabilities for electronic warfare, short-range air defence, drone defence and autonomy.
The Long-term Defence Plan assumes that the air defence effort will contribute to a layered integrated air defence with the ability to protect against threats from very short to long range. The Ministry of Defence said that there has been a “significant development” in the air threat and in relevant countermeasures, and that this is expected to continue.
“Protection against drones has become more important. Missiles and drone defence systems are examples of areas where rapid technological development is expected to make increasingly effective capabilities available,” the ministry said.
Updates to the sensor systems on the existing NASAMS air defence are underway to extend the service life of the current radar. The Norwegian government will also strengthen the performance of NASAMS through the acquisition of new radar. The phasing in of the four new NASAMS batteries will begin one year later.
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Image: Government of Norway
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