Armed Forces Planning Norway: Vard reacts ....

.... and throws his hat into the ring

On 5 April, the government presented a long-term plan for the development and structure of the Norwegian armed forces. Ten days later, a Norwegian shipbuilder ventured out of cover to respond to the needs outlined. With the "Vard Resilience Series", the Nordic subsidiary of the Italian Fincantieri Group has been presenting a new generation of naval units on its website since 15 April. According to the company, the aim of this series is to present scalable marine units for different tasks that meet the requirements for standardisation, modularisation and purpose.

The Norwegian Navy has currently ordered four U212CD submarines - according to their recommendation, at least one more boat would be needed. In addition, five frigates with on-board helicopters are to replace the Fritjof Nansen-class ships and up to ten large and eighteen smaller standardised ships are to replace a large number of other units. In his 2023 military advice on force planning for the coming decades, the Commander of the Norwegian Armed Forces wants to achieve technical and logistical harmonisation for the navy. In addition to the new frigates, the other seven surface ship and boat classes are to be reduced to two standard types. However, this does not include the aforementioned frigates and submarines - nor the "HNoMS Maud", the logistical support ship.

Vard focuses on 'resilience'

The units presented on the company's website show a design by Vard Langsten in Tomrefjord, one of the shipyards belonging to the Vard Group, which is currently delivering three Jan Mayen-class units to the Norwegian Coast Guard. If the Inspector General's idea of reducing to a total of three ship classes were to be realised, the coast guard ship shown in the background would probably correspond to the frigate. This would mean that the two units in the foreground could visualise the medium-sized and smaller standard ship.

Coast guard vessel "Jan Mayen", Norway. Photo: Vard

Jan Mayen class

The Jan Mayen class, with a displacement of 10,400 tonnes and a length of 136 metres, is currently replacing the Coast Guard's three much smaller Nordkapp class ships from the 1980s. The newbuildings are designed for use in Arctic waters and have a helicopter landing deck with a load capacity of up to 16 tonnes and a hangar for an NH90. The 100-strong crew can expect to be stationary on board for up to eight weeks.

Reconnaissance ship "Marjata IV", Norway. Photo: Wikimedia/Cavernia

Following "KV Jan Mayen" as the type ship, "KV Bjørnøya" was handed over as the second unit at the beginning of November 2023. "KV "Hopen" as the third ship is expected this year. The hulls were built in Vard Tulcea, Romania, and completed by Vard Langsten in Tomrefjord. In addition to the three coast guard units, Vard Langsten also built the electronic intelligence ship (ELINT) "Marjata IV", which was handed over to the Norwegian intelligence service in 2015 and is stationed in Kirkenes just off the Russian border.

Background

With the current move, the Vard Group is attempting to position itself for a contract in the tendered procurement programme. Against the background of its capabilities from design and development to construction, it is emphasising its experience in life cycle management and integrated logistics support. The existing subcontractor, supplier and service network speaks in its favour. This is an argument that plays an important role not only in Norway, particularly with regard to national value creation and the preservation of expertise.

Stern trawler "Berlin" of the DFFU. Photo: Vard

The Vard Group has been a subsidiary of Fincantieri since January 2013. According to its own information, it is one of the world's leading providers of specialised ships for the offshore market, which also builds special ships, LNG-powered ferries, naval vessels and patrol boats for the coast guard. It has three shipyards in Norway, two in Romania, one in Brazil and one in Vietnam.

Vard is no stranger to Germany. Vard Brattvåg, a subsidiary of the shipyard group based near Alesund (central Norway), delivered the stern trawler "Berlin" for Deutsche Fischfang Union in February 2024.

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