In order to counter the ever-increasing pressure from Russian attacks, particularly with drones and cruise missiles, Germany launched an initiative entitled “Immediate Action on Air Defence” (IAAD) in April last year to strengthen Ukraine’s air defence.
Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and various other countries participated in the following months, either with armaments or with financial assistance.
As a result, military equipment worth around €1 billion was mobilised within a year. This includes air surveillance radars, missiles, air defence systems and more.
Exactly one year after the initiative was launched, Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius announced at a meeting of the UDCG in Brussels on the 11th of April that they were currently considering launching a new IAAD initiative.
No sooner said than done! Just a few weeks later, it was announced that the air defence initiative was to be revived under a new name. “Immediate Action on Air Defence” became “Enduring Action on Air Defence” (EAAD).
Although the German government has so far remained silent in this regard, I can now reveal that Norway is the first country to verifiably participate in the EAAD initiative.
A spokeswoman for the Norwegian Ministry of Defence told me upon enquiry that Norway not only provided “significant funding” for the IAAD initiative last year, but also for the EAAD initiative this year.
Both countries are “continually in dialogue to assess further cooperation on assistance to Ukraine”, the spokeswoman said to me.
While I was able to report last year that Norway had provided a low three-digit million sum to partially finance both missiles for the MIM-104 Patriot air defence system and an IRIS-T SLM fire unit, this time I was not told how much money the Norwegian government is putting up and what is to be financed with it.
Nevertheless, I have a strong suspicion. On the 25th of June, the German Ministry of Defence announced almost casually in a press release regarding the NATO summit that additional MIM-104 Patriot missiles from Bundeswehr stocks will be delivered to Ukraine in the near future, while Norway is supporting this project.
This was also confirmed to me once again by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence.
Especially because Norway, together with Denmark and the Netherlands, was already involved last year to partially finance 100 missiles for the MIM-104 Patriot air defence system from Bundeswehr stocks as part of the IAAD initiative, it is not difficult to establish a connection.
I therefore consider it more than likely that Norway and Germany will supply these newly announced missiles as part of the EAAD initiative.
At least as far as the missiles financed by Norway are concerned, the total number is likely to be in the mid double-digit range at most.
After all, it should not be forgotten that the German government has already supplied 358 of these missiles to Ukraine, thereby depleting the Bundeswehr’s stocks significantly.
Furthermore, in 2024, Norway did not finance the current value of the many years old missiles, but rather the procurement of new ones. At a cost of around €6 million for a single missile (including extra services), it is unlikely that we are talking about a three-digit number.
But I can’t say with absolute certainty, as the Norwegian Ministry of Defence doesn’t want to go into more detail at the moment and the German government refers to “strategic ambiguity” at almost every opportunity these days to avoid having to say how much is really being done for Ukraine at the moment.
Nevertheless, one thing can be said with certainty. The joint delivery by Germany and Norway is undoubtedly of immense importance, as the supply of ammunition from the USA, the nation that has kept the Patriot fire units running until now, is currently expected to come to an end.
Without the promise that Ukraine will be allowed to purchase ammunition from the USA at its own expense in future, the country is currently facing a very uncertain future. Every delivery of ammunition from the supporters of Ukraine, no matter how small, is therefore greatly appreciated.
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