Ready for Norwegian-Russian navy exercise
Russian and Norwegian soldiers and officers are ready for the first joint navy exercise since 1994. Today the Northern Fleet’s anti-submarine destroyer “Severomorsk” arrives in Norway’s main navy base Haakonsvern outside Bergen. The exercise POMOR 2010 starts on Monday.
The Russian destroyer will be met by the Norwegian frigate “KNM Otto Sverdrup” and together the two vessels will sail to Haakonsvern, the Norwegian Armed Forces write on its web site.
- This exercise will bring us one step further in the military relations between Russia and Norway, says Commander of the National Joint Headquaters, General Bernt Brovold.
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The first joint navy exercises were held in 1994, when a Norwegian and a Russian vessel sailed together from Tromsø to Kirkenes. Forces from Denmark, Germany, Great Britain and Canada also took part in that event.
The Pomor 2010 will have a far more advanced program than last time, Brovold says:
- We have gone from just sailing next to each other to cooperating across military branches and procedures and conducting joint shooting drills and manoeuvring.
Also the Head of the Northern Fleet Admiral Nikolay Maksimov underlines the importance of the upcoming exercise:
- This exercise gives our sailors an excellent opportunity to develop cooperation in combating modern threats in Arctic areas, our common home. We all clearly understand that the responsibility for maintaining security in these areas lies on our shoulders, he says in a press release on the Norwegian Armed Forces’ web site.
As BarentsObserver reported, the Norwegian side will participate in the exercise with the frigate “Otto Sverdrup” and the coast guard vessel “KV Nordkapp” together with one Orion maritime surveillance aircraft, F-16 jet fighter aircrafts and Lynx helicopters. The Northern Fleet will take part in the exercise with the anti-submarine destroyer “Severomorsk”, one Il-38 maritime patrol aircraft, Su-33 jet fighter aircrafts and Ka-27 rescue helicopters.
The exercise will end with a visit to the Northern Fleet’s main base Severomorsk on June 12-15. During the visit, Norway’s operational commander and Head of the Northern Fleet will have their annual meeting.
