Norway is sending air-surveillance sensors and approximately 30 troops to Kirkenes, close to Russia. The equipment is intended to detect drones and provide early warning in Finnmark. Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik called the deployment precautionary, citing drones straying off course elsewhere, while saying authorities saw no heightened aerial threat to the region.
Norway’s Defence Ministry announced on November 3 that air-surveillance sensors and approximately 30 additional troops would be sent to Kirkenes, a town in the country’s northern Finnmark region near Russia. The sensors belong to the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, known as NASAMS. The deployment is intended to improve drone detection and early warning along Norway’s border.[1], [2]
Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik said authorities did not see an elevated aerial threat to Norway or Finnmark’s population. He pointed to drones straying off course in other countries and said Norway took that possibility seriously. Sandvik cited the experience of Ukraine as showing the importance of knowing what is happening in the air and receiving warning early enough.[1]
A special unit is being established at the Norwegian border-guard Ranger Battalion GSV in Kirkenes to operate the sensors. A team of 30 service personnel will handle the equipment. Regional authorities described the measure as preventive and said police would send mobile-phone emergency alerts if stray drones posed an immediate threat to life and health in affected areas.[2]
