Non-Subscriber Extract
Norway cancels equipment exchange with the Netherlands
- Article Tools
| 16 September 2004 |
By Ian Kemp; JDW News Editor; London
and Joris Janssen Lok; JDW Special Correspondent; The Hague
Norway has cancelled a plan to take over 18 new Krauss-Maffei Wegmann PzH2000 155mm/52-cal self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) from the Netherlands. They were to be traded for a surplus battery of Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS).
"The decision to cancel the package deal with the Netherlands was made by the [Norwegian defence] minister," said Norwegian Army Deputy Chief of Staff Col Arne Skjaerpe. "We now have to reassess heavy fire support within the army."
Norwegian Defence Minister Kristin Krohn Devold told JDW that the cost of introducing the PzH2000 into Norwegian service had been underestimated and that no money is available in the new 2005-08 defence plan for the project.
An official brochure published in May, The Norwegian Army 2004-2005, described the PzH2000 as one of the army's three "core weapon platforms". However, one senior Norwegian Army officer told JDW that some politicians considered the tracked PzH2000 as an inappropriate weapon as Norway works to develop lighter, more mobile forces better suited to expeditionary operations.
Senior sources within the Netherlands Ministry of Defence told JDW that "we are not amused" at the Norwegian decision because the benefits of the exchange package have been factored into the Dutch defence plans, the latest of which is scheduled to be presented on 21 September.
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