F-35 air base upgrades take shape in Norway under bilateral pact

HARSTAD, Norway — An agreement with Norway that provides U.S. forces with access to a dozen Norwegian military facilities and areas remains in place, a Norwegian official said, with Washington moving ahead with investments to expand an airbase where F-35s are stored.

Officials from both governments signed the Supplementary Defense Cooperation Agreement in 2021, and it took effect the following year. Despite recent tensions between the Trump administration and European nations, the pact between the two countries remains alive and is thriving, Norwegian State Secretary Andreas Flåm told Defense News.

“Norway and the U.S. have enjoyed close defense cooperation for more than 75 years, both bilaterally and within NATO – the SDCA remains an important framework for further developing bilateral defense cooperation,” he said.

Under the agreement, U.S. forces and contractors have “ unimpeded ” access to a total of 12 agreed Norwegian areas, which involve key military sites such as the Evenes and Sola air stations as well as the Ramsund Naval Station.

The designated facilities are to be used in part for training, maneuvers, transits, refueling of aircraft, bunkering of vessels, contingency operations, landing and recovery of aircraft, and staging or deploying forces and materiel.

Another site included is the Rygge airport, where some of Norway’s F-35s are kept. In 2023, the Norwegian Ministry of Defense revealed that Washington was investing $188 million into the expansion of the air station to build four fighter hangars, and warehouses, increase capacity for ammunition storage and fenced parts around it with a patrol road.

Flåm says infrastructure plans are moving forward and expects the first contract to be announced this summer.

Earlier this month, Norway received three new F-35A aircraft, marking the delivery of 49 fighters, with the remaining three planned to be shipped before the summer time.

In recent weeks, defense experts and lawmakers have voiced concerns over the possibility that the U.S. could block allies from using or maintaining their F-35 fleets. These worries came about after President Trump appeared to be increasingly aligned with Russia and has repeatedly threatened to annex both Canada and Greenland.

Norwegian officials, for their part, are not fearing a freeze in relations.

“The F-35 is a vital component of our national defense capability, the cooperation and dialogue with the U.S. continue to support the development and use of this high-end platform – we expect this to continue into the future,” Flåm said.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

挪威哈尔斯塔德——一位挪威官员表示，美挪威与美国达成的协议仍然有效，该协议允许美军使用挪威的十几个军事设施和区域。与此同时，华盛顿方面正在推进投资，以扩建存放 F-35 战斗机的空军基地。

两国政府官员于2021年签署了《补充防务合作协议》，该协议于次年生效。挪威国务秘书安德烈亚斯·弗洛姆告诉《防务新闻》，尽管特朗普政府与欧洲国家之间近期关系紧张，但两国之间的这项协议依然有效且发展良好。

“挪威和美国在双边和北约内部都保持着密切的防务合作，已有75年以上的历史——《国防安全合作协议》仍然是进一步发展双边防务合作的重要框架，”他说。

根据该协议，美国军队和承包商可以“不受阻碍地”进入挪威的 12 个约定区域，其中包括埃韦内斯空军基地、索拉空军基地以及拉姆斯德海军基地等重要军事设施。

指定设施将部分用于训练、演习、过境、飞机加油、船舶加油、应急行动、飞机起降和回收，以及部队和物资的集结或部署。

另一处地点是吕格机场，挪威的部分F-35战机就停放在那里。2023年，挪威国防部透露，华盛顿将投资1.88亿美元扩建该空军基地，包括建造四个战斗机机库和仓库，增加弹药储存能力，并在基地周围修建带巡逻道路的围栏。

Flåm表示，基础设施计划正在推进，预计将于今年夏天宣布第一份合同。

本月初，挪威接收了三架新的F-35A战斗机，标志着挪威共接收了49架战斗机，其余三架计划在夏季之前交付。

近几周来，国防专家和议员们对美国可能阻止盟友使用或维护其F-35战机表示担忧。此前，特朗普总统似乎与俄罗斯的关系日益密切，并多次威胁要吞并加拿大和格陵兰岛，这些担忧由此而来。

挪威官员则表示，他们并不担心两国关系会陷入僵局。

弗洛姆表示：“F-35 是我们国家防御能力的重要组成部分，与美国的合作与对话将继续支持这一高端平台的研发和使用——我们预计这种情况将持续到未来。”

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。