Trilateral defence cooperation in the North: an assessment of interoperability between Norway, Sweden and Finland

• Published in: Defence studies Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 235 - 256
• Main Author: Møller, Joakim Erma
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 03-07-2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Alliances; Command and control; Cooperation; Crises; defence cooperation; Empirical analysis; Finland; International cooperation; Interoperability; Military; Military aid; Military exercises; Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO); North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); Norway; Peacetime; Sweden; Norway; Sweden; Finland
• ISSN: 1470-2436; 1743-9698
• DOI: 10.1080/14702436.2019.1634473

Norway, Sweden and Finland have proclaimed a willingness to cooperate militarily in a future crisis or conflict despite their diverging alliance affiliation. This article assesses their ability to do so through various elements affecting their interoperability, with Arctic Challenge, a multinational military exercise, as an empirical basis. The analysis finds that the NATO/non-NATO-divide has a negative impact on the trilateral defence cooperation, especially on exchange of information and aspects related to command and control. At the same time, Finland and Sweden have become largely NATO-standardized through their active partnership with the Alliance. This has affected interoperability aspects, such as communication, culture, and the compatibility of technical solutions, in a positive manner. Through agreements with the Alliance, as well as domestic legal changes, the two NATO-partners have facilitated receiving military assistance from Norway and other NATO-members during a crisis. Other agreements between the Nordic countries, however, have been limited to peacetime.