THE WATCH STAFF
As Russia wages war on Ukraine, one of its neighbors is leading a large-scale winter NATO exercise.
Norway, a NATO member that shares a nearly 201-kilometer land border with Russia, is hosting Cold Response 2022, which began March 14 and runs through early April. The participants include 30,000 troops from more than two dozen nations — NATO members as well as defense partners Finland and Sweden.
NATO said Cold Response, which also includes 200 aircraft and 50 vessels, was “not linked to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” The Associated Press reported March 15.
Before the invasion, Norway had invited Russia to observe the biennial exercise — common procedure for major NATO operations. Moscow declined.
“It is important to stress that Cold Response is an exercise that has been planned for a long time in order to exercise defense of Norway,” Lt. Gen. Yngve Odlo, chief of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters (NJHQ), told the High North News newspaper March 9.
Odlo told the newspaper that Cold Response, which takes place across northern Norway and includes operations above the Arctic Circle, was not modified because of the war in Ukraine.
“We have not made any major adjustments; however, we are transparent both about our targets and our intents, about where we operate, and we have therefore also invited observers to see what we actually do,” he said.
The 23 NATO countries that sent forces to the exercise in Norway are Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Spain, Slovenia, Turkey and the United States. In addition, the partner countries Finland and Sweden are participating.
U.S. forces began training in Norway in December 2021 as U.S. Marines conducted cold-weather training and planning in the lead-up to the exercise, according to a Marine Corps news release.
(Pictured: U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew James keeps watch from an observation post during a field exercise March 14 in Setermoen, Norway.)
In addition to the ground forces, the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is serving as the command platform for Cold Response, according to the intelligence and military news website Janes. The Prince of Wales leads NATO’s Maritime High Readiness Force — an international task group formed to deal with major global events. It is the first time that one of the Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers has operated in the Arctic.
“The Prince of Wales will be at the head of a powerful maritime task force, which, alongside aircraft and land forces – including Royal Marines Commandos – will show how a unified multilateral force would defend Norway and Europe’s northern flank from a modern adversary,” the Royal Navy said in a March 8 news release.
Odlo, the Norwegian commander, told High North News that the NJHQ maintains a military communications channel with Russia’s Northern Fleet to avoid any incidents.
“We conduct these exercises with transparency, following the book to the letter, chapter and verse,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in a recent speech, according to High North News. “That is how a predictable neighbor acts.”
IMAGE CREDIT: SGT. JOSHUA WEAVER/U.S. MARINE CORPS