Norwegian Defense Should Be Reorganized, Says University Lecturer Ståle Ulriksen

In the book “Krigen i Ukraina”, which was launched on Thursday by Fagbokforlaget, college lecturer Ståle Ulriksen at the Naval Academy examines what the war in Ukraine means for the Norwegian armed forces.

Ulriksen is clear that the war should and will have consequences for the Norwegian Armed Forces and Norway.

“The war in Ukraine, and the greatly deteriorated relationship between Russia and the West, will have major, negative consequences for Norway’s security policy situation. In that case, it should also have major consequences for the Armed Forces, so that the state will actually be able to meet the challenges it faces,” he writes.

“The war in Ukraine” was written by a number of Norwegian military and security experts. Tormod Heier, professor at Staff School, is the editor of the book.

“Meaningful to restore reserve forces”

Ulriksen also outlines some possible contributions to solutions to the challenges he believes Norway is facing. He is clear that the Armed Forces should be reorganized.

“An important point is that it is probably possible to reduce the need for personnel and increase efficiency in the Defense Sector by defragmenting the organization and simplifying the way it is run. A second important point is that the military situation makes sense to restore reserve forces. A third point is that many of the strengths that are needed can be sharpened to fulfill specific functions in a specific geography,” writes the college lecturer.

The Ministry of Defense informs ABC Nyheter that Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) has no comments on Ulriksen’s views.

Will meet Nato targets

Alarms have been sounded for a long time about the state of the Norwegian armed forces. General manager of the Norwegian Officers’ and Specialists’ Association, Torbjørn Bongo, stated last year that the Armed Forces lack both men and equipment and are not ready to go to war.

Earlier in May, the Støre government promised to fulfill NATO’s two percent target. The goal involves spending at least two percent of Norway’s gross domestic product on defence. Norway must do this by 2026, Støre promised.

This means that the defense budgets until 2026 must be stepped up by around NOK 3.8 billion annually, a total of NOK 11 billion.