Head of the border hunter battalion: “We get a real ability to wage war” • TV4 on site
A few miles west of Kirkenes, a patrol with border hunters goes over the marshes and through the forests in the area right next to the border line with Russia to scout for unauthorized persons. At the front is the dog Fixa, who has just been commanded by the dog handler Ole André Mathisen to switch to working mode.
Then she sharpens her sense of smell to detect traces of people on the ground or in the wind, as well as her hearing.
– She switches from going for a walk to starting work. Then she quite actively looks back and forth, in the direction of where she becomes interested. If she had found something, she would have marked with extremely strong interest in that direction, says Ole André Mathisen.
600 billion
After the disarmament at the end of the Cold War, the whole of Norway is now sharpening its attention again. According to the long-term planning, the defense will receive an additional NOK 600 billion over the next twelve years. Among other things, an army brigade will today become three, of which two will be placed right here in the north.
– The investment that is being made now is very good and will go a long way. One challenge is that it starts a little late, so we feel a little behind. A little behind developments in the world, says Audun Jørstad, head of the border hunter battalion in Sør-Varanger.
According to the plans, the border is to be strengthened with more air defenses, among other things. At the same time, the staffing further west in Finnmark will be scaled up to the size of a brigade, which will also receive more artillery resources.
– So that we actually get a credible deterrent and a real ability to wage war, says Audun Jørstad.
The navy is being built up
Most money is now being spent on building up Norway’s navy, including five new corvettes, i.e. larger warships, and five new submarines. Not least to be able to secure NATO transports from the USA, for example on their way to further strengthen Finland through Sweden. But also to protect Norway’s long coast, which, above all in the north, may have even greater geopolitical significance when the Arctic is expected to melt and thus new shipping routes between the continents are opened north of Russia.
Throughout Finnmark, the number of military personnel is expected to triple in the coming years. The more prudent presence that has been is partly due to the fact that Norway’s security policy towards its eastern neighbor has long been based on de-escalation rather than deterrence. With an understatement, the head of the border battalion states that that time is now over.
– If Russia, for example, is willing to use military power over a long period of time, and deploy large resources, mobilize the entire nation and go to a full offensive war, then it means that it is not certain that the detente approach is the most relevant. But the threat of war is not considered very high right now, but we are prepared for it to be significantly higher, says Audun Jørstad.
200 border hunters – in 20 miles
In total, there are only about 200 border hunters guarding the total of 20 miles. These will now receive more technical monitoring through sensors, among other things, and the government has also announced that it is considering building fences along parts of the route.
Today’s surveillance is carried out both through permanent surveillance from towers and patrolling on foot in not infrequently inaccessible terrain and difficult winter weather. The tasks are mainly carried out by conscripts, even among them there is a stronger sense of seriousness now.
– Yes, a little. I feel that what we are doing is even more important, and I am motivated to do an even better job, says Hanne Marcussen, conscript of the Border Hunter Battalion Sør-Varanger.