Norge under lupen i AW&ST

Norway Ups Defense Spending, Postpones Air Defense, Helo Buys

Tony Osborne March 27, 2026

Credit: Onar Digernes Aase / Norwegian Armed Forces

Norway has pledged to increase defense spending and accelerate the introduction of new warships and associated helicopters, but its plans to acquire a new fleet of battlefield utility rotorcraft are being postponed.

Oslo plans grow defense spending by an additional 31 billion Norwegian krone ($3.2 billion) through 2030 and will spend 115 billion Norwegian krone through until 2036. This will allow the Nordic nation to reach NATO’s new defense spending target of 3.5% by 2035, the Norwegian government declared on March 27.

Announcing the changes, Defense Minister Tore O. Sandvik said the additional funding would help “build up important capacities faster,” and that the country was arming itself “to deter, to be prepared, and to avoid war.”

He said that the country’s new Type 26 frigates—being purchased from the UK through a strategic partnership between the two nations—would be phased in sooner, as well as land-based long-range fires and investments in space capability for surveillance and communications. The report confirms that the frigates will be equipped with maritime helicopters with anti-submarine warfare capability as an “integral part of the combat system.” But officials have yet not said what helicopters will equip the new frigates.

Part of the offer for the Type 26 was a proposal from Leonardo Helicopters to use an anti-submarine version of the three-engine AW101 helicopter, the same platform that will be used by the UK Royal Navy from the ship when it enters service in around 2028. Other options could include the Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk that the Norwegian Coast Guard is acquiring for its patrol vessels since the withdrawal of the NHIndustries NH90. Leonardo has marketed the ASW AW101 as a natural fit, as Norway already uses the AW101 for search and rescue missions.

But while some programs were accelerating, others are being put on hold.

Sandvik also said there would be “delays and reductions in the plan,” but that this was not necessarily related to finances. Rather, it was due to lengthening delivery times that are forcing Norway to consider alternatives.

Among the delayed decisions is a choice on a ground-based, long-range air defense system that would have helped form a multilayered aerial umbrella that also included the locally developed NASAMS system. Instead, funding will be spent on bringing forward short-range air defense capabilities, particularly against uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). Plans for maritime surveillance drones have also been scrapped.

Plans for a new fleet of helicopters to replace 18 aging Agusta-Bell AB-412 utility helicopters have also been delayed, with no revised timeline for their replacement.

And no additional C-130J Hercules transport aircraft will be procured beyond the current four in service, the report says.

Oslo is continuing to pursue the purchase of the Northrop Grumman Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile–Extended Range (AARGM-ER) for its Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. It is part of NATO targets for Norway “to prioritize the capability of multidomain operations.” The weapons will be purchased through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales framework to be signed by year’s end and deliveries from 2031.

But the report notes caution on the relationship with the U.S. It says significant changes and unpredictability in U.S. policy toward other countries has created “uncertainty about the USA’s future engagement and role, including in the defense of Europe and Norway,” and that the campaign to gain control of Greenland “has weakened trust between Europe and the U.S.”