The United States, United Kingdom and Norway have agreed in principal to create a trilateral coalition built around the P-8 maritime aircraft — though exactly what that means remains unclear.

The Pentagon announced June 29 that the three countries had established a “statement of intent to lay out guiding principles for a trilateral partnership with P-8A aircraft.” In addition, the announcement said the nations are working on a “framework for further cooperation in areas such as readiness, enhancing defense capability, and interoperability.”

A defense official, speaking on background, told media that nothing is “set in stone,” and this is just a first step toward coordinating around the aircraft. Potential areas of cooperation include joint operations in the North Atlantic, information sharing and the possibility of co-locating maintenance and training assets.

The last point would seem to build on a November pledge between the U.K. and Norway to find ways to jointly drive down costs for the maritime surveillance plane. The U.K. plans on buying nine P-8s, while Norway has agreed to purchase five of the Boeing-made planes.

Given the shared area of responsibility and the small fleet sizes for both nations, analysts believe cooperation around the P-8 is a no-brainer. And while the U.S. has a larger fleet, being able to share assets such as maintenance will help bring costs down and keep readiness rates high for American assets surveilling the waters near Europe.

Asked in December about forming some sort of P-8 coalition between the three nations, Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work said, “We haven’t had something like this since the Cold War, … and that just opens up a whole new level of possibilities for us to in the future do collaborative and coordinated operations.”

“When you have that interoperability and you can land and get servicing wherever you land — wash racks, maintenance hangars you can use — it just makes it a lot easier,” Work told Defense News on Dec. 4.

Vice Adm. Joseph Rixey, the outgoing head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, said in September that he wanted to expand a recent program that allows NATO allies to pool their resources and buy as a group from the U.S., holding up the P-8 as an example where nations could find joint savings.

“Imagine what you could do with lead nation procurement if you could get something like the P-8 — maybe not the P-8 itself, but certainly all the support, the sonobuoys, the spares, everything associated with it that you could buy — in batch quantities and not have to worry about third-party transfer restrictions,” Rixey said then.

(defensenews)

Germany and Norway have officially joined the European/NATO programme to acquire Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft along with Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The two nations committed to participating in the project through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding at NATO HQ in Brussels today.

Known as the Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) the programme was initiated by the European Defence Agency in 2012. Europe’s organisation for the management of cooperative armament programmes – OCCAR – manages the MMF acquisition phase as Contract Executing Agent on behalf of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).

The Programme is funded by the four nations who will have the exclusive right to use these NATO–owned aircraft which will operate in a pooling arrangement. The aircraft will be configured for in-flight refuelling, the transport of passengers and cargo, and medical evacuation flights.

According to Airbus, the first two aircraft have already been ordered to be delivered from Airbus Defence and Space’s tanker conversion line at Getafe near Madrid in 2020. Five additional aircraft will now be ordered, and that order will include options for up to four further aircraft.

OCCAR Director, Arturo Alfonso-Meiriño said:

“The MMF programme has broken new ground in bringing together the combined capabilities of the EDA, NSPA and OCCAR as one team, with each organisation working within its particular sphere of expertise. I very much welcome that this important initiative has now attracted additional partners to join, and it still includes options for the participation of even more countries.”

EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq said:

“The MMF is a prime example of European defence cooperation which shows that once a capability shortfall has been jointly identified, European nations can pull together, work on a common project aimed at filling the gap, and eventually deliver. It’s Pooling & Sharing at its best.”

Airbus Defence and Space Head of Military Aircraft Fernando Alonso said:

“The A330 MRTT has established itself firmly as the world’s premier tanker/transport aircraft. It is extremely satisfying to now see it adopted as the core asset of one of Europe’s most important cooperative defence programmes. We hope that this collaborative approach will serve as a model for future joint procurements.”

(ukdefencejournal)

The US Marines’ rotational training and exercises currently taking place in Norway have been extended by one year to 2018, the Norwegian Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide has confirmed.

Approximately 330 marines have been stationed in the Norwegian village of Vaernes on a rotational basis since January. The new arrangement will see personnel continue to rotate beyond this year, with two rotations slated for both 2017 and 2018.

US Marine Corps (USMC) Forces Europe and Africa commander major general Niel E. Nelson said that the decision to extend the presence of the marine rotational force in Norway supports the US’ commitment to Nato.

It is also expected to strengthen the partnership between the two countries on defence and security.

Nelson said: “Our Marines in Norway are demonstrating a high level of cooperation with our allies.

“The more we train together alongside one another, the stronger our alliance becomes.”

Norway is considered a close ally of the US, and is reportedly set to increase its defence budget and commit to the procurement of critical capabilities.

Both countries are focused on strengthening the development of joint leaders and teams who understand the synergy of air, sea, and land power as a potent asymmetric advantage in the battlefield.

The Norwegian Parliament approved the renewal of an agreement in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Governing Prestockage and Reinforcement of Norway in 2006, which paved the way for a considerable increase of US training and exercise presence in Norway.

The US Department of Defense also confirmed the establishment of the limited rotational force presence of American marines in Norway in October.

USMC’s presence in Norway has offered improved opportunities for mutual exercises and enhanced interoperability.

Various other rotational training and exercise activities have taken place at other locations in Norway, in addition to the Vaernes-based operations.

Image: US Marines, Marine Rotational Force 17.1 sailors and soldiers with Norwegian Home Guard 12 during an exercise in Norway. Photo: courtesy of Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Emily Dorumsgaard.

(naval-technology)

RUSSIA has told Norway that their diplomatic ties will suffer as a result of the country’s decision to host 330 US Marines for longer than first anticipated.

Norway announced this week that the US Marines will remain in the country until the end of 2018, a year longer than planned.

On Saturday, the Russian Embassy in Norway said: “We have repeatedly explained our point of view on the issue of setting up a US military base in the territory of Norway.

“We consider that this step contradicts Norwegian policy of not deploying foreign military bases in the country in times of peace, steps out of line of the traditions of good neighbourhood, makes Norway not fully predictable partner, can also escalate tension and lead to destabilisation of the situation in the Northern region,’ the embassy’s administrator wrote on Facebook.

“We see it as an element of the US-led military preparations that have intensified against the background of the anti-Russian propagandist hysteria.”

The US force arrived in Norway in January and is based near the city of Trondheim, 900 miles from the Russian border.

Russia’s claims come amid rising tensions between Washington and Moscow after the US shot down a Syrian jet which it claims targeted American-allied rebels.

Russia warned it will treat US-led coalition planes in Syria west of the Euphrates as targets as the nation’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov described the shooting as a “dangerous escalation”.

But the US Central Command said they had shot the plane out of the sky last Sunday in “self-defence” as it flew over the war-torn country.

Reacting to the incident, Mr Ryabkov said it was an “act of aggression and support of terrorists”.

He said: “What is it then, if not an act of aggression, an act directly in breach of international law.

“If you want, it’s actually help for the terrorists the US is fighting, declaring that they are conducting a counterterrorism policy.”

The US-led coalition issued a statement, which said: “The Coalition’s mission is to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.The Coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian, or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend Coalition or partner forces from any threat.

“The Coalition presence in Syria addresses the imminent threat ISIS in Syria poses globally. The demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces toward Coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated.

“The Coalition calls on all parties to focus their efforts on the defeat of ISIS, which is our common enemy and the greatest threat to regional and worldwide peace and security.”

(express)