A report from the National Accounts Office revealed serious shortcomings in the Norwegian Armed Forces frigates in 2016. There are still significant shortcomings in 2022, the National Accounts Office now writes in a press release.
In the period between 2006 and 2011, Norway received five frigatesA frigate is a small to medium sized fast warship. of the Fridtjof Nansen class, considered the true backbone of the navy.
In 2016 the Court of Auditors presented a report which revealed serious deficiencies in the frigate’s weapons.
The main conclusion was that the frigate’s weapon did not have the operational capability expected by the Storting.
In the wake of this report, the Ministry of Defense has initiated some important measures.
The National Audit Office now says the Norwegian Navy frigate’s strength is even less operational than Storting assumed.
There are still skills and personnel challenges, maintenance backlogs and access to spare parts and ammunition, writes the National Accounts Office.
– Today we see that improvements have been made, but that many of the challenges are still valid. It goes beyond the operational capability of the frigate’s weapon and is very serious, says Auditor General Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen.
The consequences are significant, the statement said.
The staff situation is marginal and this places a high burden on the staff. Challenges with spare parts still lead to “cannibalization,” meaning parts are taken from one ship to be used on another.
Criticism of the Armed Forces
This is the second time in a short time that the National Accounts Office has issued very serious criticism of the Norwegian Armed Forces.
In early October, the Norwegian Armed Forces received criticism due to deficiencies in the digital information systems used in the operations.
─ In today’s security policy situation, I understand that people care more when we are so critical of the military, but it is very important to bring these issues to the fore. When we discover errors and deficiencies that can have consequences for the security of the kingdom, it is inherently serious. However, that does not mean that the Norwegian armed forces are not working, Schjøtt-Pedersen points out.
Shipwreck and lack of helicopter support
Each frigate costs several billion.
Norway has only four frigates left after KNM Helge Ingstad is shipwrecked in November 2018. So the parts that were supposed to support the entire fleet were also lost.
In addition, there have been major challenges with the NH90 helicopters, which are critical to the operational capabilities of the frigates. The helicopters are now on the ground and the contract with the supplier has ended.
– The consequence is that we do not and have not had a frigate weapon that works as originally intended by the Storting, says Schjøtt-Pedersen.
