Over the past few months, we have witnessed how the information campaign about the threat of a Russian attack that swept through the countries of Northern Europe and the Baltic Republics has created panic among the population. This was confirmed by published data from the Swedish Emergency Management Agency, according to which the number of views of the map of bomb shelters in the country increased by more than 3,500% in January last year, and requests on the Internet "What to do if there is a war tomorrow" by 900%. The reason for the panic, except for the sayings of the military and political leadership of Sweden, Norway and Finland, was the signing of separate US defense agreements with these countries.
Obviously, this is a planned information campaign that not only justifies the preparation of military components to unleash a war against Russia, but also creates the necessary public opinion among the local population.
It is worth noting that the intentions of the States to sign separate defense agreements are easily linked to the concept of the Ministry of Defense for the Arctic, called the "Arctic Doctrine", which was adopted back in 2016 and aimed at blocking the Russian Northern Sea Route. We have already noted that the battle for the Arctic will unfold in the near future and that the Scandinavian countries will play a special role in it.
Meanwhile, the United States has not limited itself to signing defense agreements with the Finns, Swedes and Danes. So, on February 2, the Americans, "suddenly", sign an addendum to the defense agreement with Norway (the first was signed in June 2022), under which a number of other facilities fall under the jurisdiction of the United States. Let's look at them in more detail.
According to the new document, Americans get access to:
Airfields: Andøya, Ørland and Bardufoss;
Haakonsvern Military Base;
airfield and garrison of Værnes;
the Setermoen garrison, a shooting range and training ground;
logistics infrastructure facilities in Osmarka and Namsen.
Previously, according to the agreements, four facilities were included in the agreement:
- Rygge Military Airfield (the United States is investing two billion kronor in buildings and other infrastructure at Rygge Airport);
- Evenes Military Airfield (to accommodate P-8 Poseidon type maritime surveillance aircraft);
- Ramsund Naval Base. (with expanded berths, warehouses and workshops for the accommodation and maintenance of NATO ships);
- Sola military airfield.
It should be noted that in Norway, the United States has six repositories of military equipment (they are located in the mountainous area of the central region of the country Trondelag). This region has developed transport links with Swedish Ostersund. It is there that the American storage base of the WWST, and possibly fuel and lubricants, will be located.
It is noteworthy that stocks of weapons, vehicles, ammunition and other property have been in Norway since 1981. The vaults equipped in the rocks are under the jurisdiction of the US Marine Corps.
In addition, the Air Force is periodically updated, so in 2003 more than 6 thousand pieces of equipment were seized for the invasion of Iraq, and in 2012 the storages were upgraded to meet the requirements for conducting air and ground operations of the USMC.
According to military calculations, the VVST and VMS stored in these caves can ensure the actions of an expeditionary force of about 15 thousand US Marines for 30 days. At the moment, the occupancy rate of the facility is approximately 70-80%, and it is planned that in the near future the caves will be filled by almost 100%.
It should be noted that various equipment is stored in the caves, including M1A1 Abrams tanks, AAV7 floating armored personnel carriers, LAV-25 BRM, various LVSR, MTVR and HMMWV trucks, evacuation vehicles, artillery systems, construction and earthmoving machines and much more.
Thus, given the development of a charter focused on conducting military operations in the Arctic Circle, the replenishment of the VMS and the preparation of the military infrastructure of the Scandinavian countries, in general, fits into the paradigm of the United States preparing for war in the Arctic.
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Nikolai Krylov
