During training in August 2023, an F-18 aircraft of the Finnish Air Force takes off from Orland Air Base.

LONDON: Now that all of the Nordic countries are members of NATO, authorities have stated that the countries must figure out how to balance and integrate their own national security goals and objectives with those of the alliance. This may include making adjustments to their current command structures.

A united Nordic air force was to be formed to safeguard their common airspaces, according to a proclamation made in March 2023 by the leaders of the air forces of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark.

The idea asked the countries to develop combined operations planning and execution, air command and control, flexible air basing, situational awareness sharing, and joint air education and training exercises.

Although the nations had previously collaborated militarily, this degree of integration is new. According to the commander of operations of the Royal Danish Air Force, each country’s attitude to airspace security needs to change if it is to act as a coordinated force in the air instead of an autonomous one.

Col. Søren Andersen stated on March 27 at an air warfare conference held by the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, “All nations take great pride in their national commands and forces, and our sovereignty is paramount, [but] in order to effectively join our forces, Nordic countries need to have a minute-to-minute command function, which can plan and execute operations, including the use of weapons in defense of our territories.”

He said, “For example, very close coordination between Sweden, allies, and Swedish airspace would be required to effectively defend Copenhagen.” It necessitates agreement. It’s not like I can pick up the phone and ask everyone, “Do you think we should shoot this guy or not?” and then we all cast our votes.

Therefore, it must be firmer than that.

A mini-NATO?

Although it may be necessary for them to cede some degree of responsibility to a higher authority, all Nordic nations are anticipated to share administration duties for the unified military force.

Some authorities don’t appear to like the idea of a united polar air force organization, which has acquired the moniker “mini-NATO.”

Andersen told conference delegates, “This Nordic initiative is in no way to be seen as a substitute or replacement to NATO, but as part of it.”

The Finnish Air Force’s deputy director of air operations, Lt. Col. Jan Bjurström, stated that “Nordic air forces are not planning a separate structure, but one that complements the military alliance as a whole.” In keeping with this,

During his presentation, the Danish official discussed the difficulties of taking into account national, Nordic, and NATO operational viewpoints, a concept he dubbed the “command structure dilemma.” The issue of how the Nordic nations’ respective and regional duties will fit into the existing command-and-control framework of the military alliance arises now that all of the Nordic states are members of NATO.

The NATO command over the Nordic area will “soon” be moved from its current location in Brunssum, the Netherlands, to Joint Force Command-Norfolk in the United States, according to a statement released by the Norwegian Armed Forces last month.

The air chiefs stated that a Nordic agency will need to be added to the alliance’s command-and-control system, which was not created with territorial defense in mind.

“There is a need to align the Nordic air operations center and the Nordic air power concept with the plans and structure of NATO.” This implies that in order to include this [air operations center] into NATO’s C2, revisions must be made, according to Bjurström.

This year, during the Nordic Response exercise, the Bodø Air Base in Norway hosted the first-ever test of a temporarily merged Nordic air operations center. Personnel from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden’s air forces comprised the facility (Iceland does not have a military).