US installs tanks and artillery in preparation for drills in Norway

(Baonghean.vn) - The US Navy is installing many battle tanks, artillery and logistical equipment in caves in Norway in the context of the US stepping up weapons for the area bordering the Russia - NATO border.

“Anything that can be assembled early reduces costs and increases our ability to withstand extreme conditions, so we are leaning toward equipping weapons that are mobile and can respond to the most unpredictable situations,” said Col. William Bently, operations officer of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, about assembling weapons in a secret cave in Norway.

US Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicles are assembled in preparation for a public “snap” exercise in Trondheim Fjord, northern Norway in January. Photo: CNN.

The delivery and assembly of new weapons to caves used during the Cold War comes amid renewed tensions between Russia and NATO.

Last October, Norwegian Defense Minister Adm. Haakon Bruun-Hanssen said in a statement to the press that Russia's actions "show that it is willing to use armed force to achieve its political ambitions."

The aforementioned weapons storage caves are scattered across central Norway. According to information from the Navy, the US weapons storage facility began to be built here since the Cold War period in 1981 to support NATO in the war with the Soviet Union.

After the Cold War, the United States questioned the maintenance of the cave complex, said Magnus Nordenman, director of the Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Security Initiative.

According to Nordenman, the Norwegian government then decided to maintain the facilities in the cave complex and agreed to shoulder all maintenance and repair costs incurred during the 1990s.

Nordenman added that the secured cave complex was a massive, state-of-the-art facility that could house up to 100 people and store enough weapons and equipment for 15,000 Marines. The weapons and equipment stored in the cave were used to support operations in Iraq.

According to Heather Conley - Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Europe, the current shift in the geopolitical landscape has once again turned these caves into strategic cards.

Some of the 6,500 weapons housed in the cave complex will be used in a drill called Cold Response in March, the Navy said, which will involve 12 NATO allies and partners and more than 16,000 troops.

A Norwegian Defense Ministry spokesman said the aim of the exercise was to strengthen military capabilities “in a hostile environment” and that this would help “maintain confidence in the military strength and response capabilities of the entire NATO bloc.”

Heather Conley said the new exercises were essential to ensure NATO could test its weapons and organizational capabilities in cold weather conditions. Russia’s northern military branch also conducted a secret exercise in March last year involving 38,000 troops.

The announcement of the deployment comes just days after the US Department of Defense announced it would spend $3.4 billion on the European Security Support Initiative, an effort to deter Russian aggression against NATO allies. The initiative includes pre-positioning military hardware in the Baltic states, the Netherlands and Central Europe.

Huyen Tran

(According to CNN)