Norway has become a member of the international coalition to provide Ukraine with air and missile defense systems, the Kingdom's Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

“Defense Minister Björn Arild Gram today signed a letter of intent, according to which Norway will participate in (the work. -

RT

) a coalition to assist Ukraine in providing air defense against aircraft and missiles,” the statement noted.

According to the head of the Norwegian defense department, it is “absolutely natural” for the country to be part of such a union.

“The Norwegian NASAMS air defense system contributes every day to saving the lives of Ukrainians and protecting their critical infrastructure,” Gram added.

According to the ministry, after several coalitions were formed last winter “to strengthen capacity, the purpose of which is to provide military support to Ukraine,” the kingdom’s government decided on Norway’s participation in three such structures.

We are talking about the maritime coalition, which Oslo led together with London, as well as the coalition for the transfer of F-16 fighters, within the framework of which Norway will send these aircraft to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and provide appropriate training to the Ukrainian military.

“As we said, we will provide support where it is needed most.

Air defense is one of the most important priorities for Ukraine.

There is an absolute need to protect military departments, cities and critical infrastructure necessary for the functioning of society,” Gram said.

Earlier, in February, the Kingdom's Ministry of Defense reported that Norway plans to transfer NASAMS air defense systems to Ukraine for a total amount of NOK 3.45 billion (about $326 million).

Coalition diversification

Let us recall that the creation of an international coalition to provide Kyiv with air defense and missile defense systems was announced on February 14 at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry following a meeting of the contact group for assistance to Ukraine in the Ramstein format.

Kiev reported then that the coalition of integrated air and missile defense had already officially begun its work.

“We are strengthening our air defense with both systems and missiles... 15 countries have already joined.

I am grateful to Germany, France and the United States for their leadership,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov wrote on social networks.

According to the head of the German Ministry of Defense, Boris Pistorius, the coalition is designed to provide long-term support to Ukraine in the field of ground-based air defense.

With emergency aid provided, it is now about “long-term opportunities,” he said.

At the same time, it is argued that providing the Armed Forces of Ukraine with air defense systems is the main prerequisite for the success of the Ukrainian armed forces in the confrontation with the Russian Federation.

In addition, according to Kyiv, the Ukrainian authorities are strengthening interaction with Western partners on the issue of unmanned systems, and have also “officially launched the work of a coalition of drones.”

In addition, alliances are being formed in the field of artillery, mine clearance, aviation and armored vehicles, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported.

At the same time, the United States, together with Denmark and the Netherlands, is coordinating the work of the aviation alliance, and with France - the artillery alliance, the Pentagon said.

Subsequently, German Foreign Minister Annalena Bärbock said that those who want peace in Ukraine should “mobilize all means” and transfer to Kyiv “more ammunition, more air defense systems, more long-range weapons.”

"Scraping out the leftovers"

According to experts, despite the fact that the West decided to create a network of specialized coalitions, including providing Kyiv with air defense and missile defense systems, this strategy turned out to be ineffective and is more like “an imitation of vigorous activity.”

“This does not give anything significant, does not increase the combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The fact is that the main contribution to the supply of weapons from the West to Ukraine was made by the United States, which is now, under various pretexts, practically eliminating itself according to the Afghan scenario.

Some targeted deliveries are still possible from both the United States and its Western allies, but it is already clear that objective conditions do not allow the Americans to repeat the volumes of assistance from 2022-2023.

And all these artificially created coalitions, including air defense, do not help the Ukrainian Armed Forces at all to maintain the intensity of hostilities,” noted military observer Alexander Khrolenko in a conversation with RT.

  • NATO headquarters

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Considering that the Norwegian NASAMS has already been transferred to Ukraine as part of the air defense and missile defense coalition, Norway is unlikely to be able to significantly increase the pace of deliveries, the analyst believes.

“Those few copies that the Norwegian authorities will be able to supply to the Kyiv regime will clearly not be enough for the entire territory of Ukraine.

One-piece samples of such anti-aircraft systems will only be able to cover individual objects,” says Khrolenko.

As Alexey Podberezkin, director of the Center for Military-Political Studies at MGIMO, explained in turn, despite the fact that Norway has nothing special to offer the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it joined the coalition “for extras” as a NATO member.

“This was inevitable, since even more neutral states are being drawn into this whole story, not to mention members of the North Atlantic Alliance.

But Norway's contribution will not be noticeable.

The maximum she is capable of is a few complexes, which will not play any role on the battlefield.

After all, Russian aerospace attack systems, especially if we are talking about Tornado-S or Iskander, have already adapted to detecting and destroying such targets,” Podberezkin emphasized in a conversation with RT.

Alexander Khrolenko also stated that the production volumes of air defense and missile defense systems not only in Norway, but also in other Western countries are insufficient for mass supplies to Ukraine in the quantities it needs.

“Many times in Europe they tried to create a unified air defense system, and, as you can see, this did not lead to anything concrete.

The same is true in Ukraine: there are separate, more or less effective air defense systems, but they are not enough to create an air defense system for the entire territory controlled by the Kyiv regime.

And given the intensity of attacks by the Russian Aerospace Forces on the military infrastructure of Ukraine, even the total number of systems of the entire anti-aircraft coalition cannot compensate for the lack of anti-aircraft weapons in Kyiv.

The West simply does not have enough air defense systems to protect Ukrainian Armed Forces’ facilities from Russian attacks,” says Khrolenko.

Alexey Podberezkin, in turn, calls air defense and missile defense systems in the West a “piecemeal and very expensive” product that cannot be produced quickly.

“Now Western countries are scraping out the remains.

Because assembling an air defense or missile defense system is a whole story.

If anyone thinks that all they have to do is pay and the system will be released immediately, they are deeply mistaken.

The entire production process of such weapons takes about a year,” Podberezkin concluded.