Defense News:
HELSINKI — The Nordic countries have scaled up monitoring against a surge in missile testing by Russia on its heavily militarized Kola Peninsula, home to Moscow’s Northern Fleet and Arctic main combat forces.
The uptick in Nordic surveillance of Kola is also driven by the increase in Russian live-fire military exercises in the High North, and increasingly in areas close to the border with NATO-member Norway. The exercises have also featured simulated firings of anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine missiles.
In April, the Northern Fleet warships Pyotr Velikiy and Marshal Ustinov conducted missile-firing tests north of Norway’s Lofoten archipelago. In May, the warship Severomorsk tested missile and medium-range weapons systems in Russian waters close to Norway’s northern coastline.
Russia’s High North maneuvers in April and May included the test launch of Kinzhal anti-air missiles (NATO code name: SA-N-9 Gauntlet).
Norway’s military “maintains routine surveillance” on Russian ships operating near the country’s coast, said Lt. Col. Ivar Moen, a spokesman for the Norwegian Armed Forces. In the case of the Severomorsk, the ship was active in waters off the coastlines of the provinces Nordland and Troms.
