Norway to buy six Sikorsky helicopters for $1.1 billion to monitor its seas
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Loading... - Juan Alonso
- 14 Mar 2023
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Norway’s military plans to buy six Seahawk helicopters for 12 billion crowns ($1.14 billion) from Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky, the defence minister said on Tuesday, to boost its ability to monitor its vast seas and Arctic territory.
The NATO member, which shares a border with Russia in the Arctic, is responsible for monitoring some 2 million square km (772,000 square miles) of sea and has long been seeking to boost its monitoring capacity.
“This will strengthen our national control, the military’s preparedness and our presence in the northern areas,” Bjoern Arild Gram told a news conference, adding the helicopters would be able to track submarines.
Russia’s Northern Fleet and its nuclear submarines are based on the Kola Peninsula, which borders Norway in the Arctic.
The first delivery would be in the summer of 2025 and would continue until 2027, he said.
In June, Oslo said it was axing its fleet of NH90 military helicopters and said it would ask for a refund from a consortium led by Airbus, which hit back at the time by calling the move “legally groundless”. Read More..
