Norway is continuing to expand its Finnmark Brigade, which was established in 2025 in the far north of the country. The large formation stationed in Sør-Varanger and Porsangmoen near the Russian border has now been assigned an artillery battalion, an air defense battery and a signals company. Up to now the brigade consisted mainly of the Porsanger Battalion with two armored cavalry squadrons on Leopard 2A4 and CV9030 infantry fighting vehicles as combat units, and the Jägerbataillon GSV with three light infantry companies. It is assigned to Home Guard District 17.
These units were taken over by the brigade at its formation from the predecessor organization established in 2022, the Finnmark Land Defence Command. By 2032 it is planned to grow from 1,300 to 4,000 personnel. In addition to the artillery battalion with three K9 Vidar batteries and the air defense battery, there will then also be, among other things, a reconnaissance company and an engineer company. Thus, Norway will possess a mobile large formation with significantly increased firepower to defend its border with Russia.
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Until 2020, border security here was exclusively handled by the Jägerbataillon GSV, founded in 1921 and today numbering around 700 personnel. Its duties included monitoring the 1949 Norwegian-Soviet border agreement and, later, the Schengen external border, as well as, to some extent, civil policing. Even during the Cold War, the Brigade North with its headquarters in Bardufoss would have been deployed to the region only in times of tension or defense as the sole active large formation. The Finnmark Brigade is now intended, not least, to provide a point of contact for operations with NATO allies.
Its establishment was decided in 2024 together with that of Brigade South in response to the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Previously there was only Brigade North with three mechanized battalions and the then-only artillery battalion of the Norwegian Armed Forces. While the new Brigade South is a reserve formation, Brigade North should also be further expanded and will, among other things, receive a fourth maneuver battalion.
