Norway increases military spending: buy 300 tanks from Rheinmetall

At a time when Norway is ramping up its military spending, Oslo's Defense Chief Eirik Kristoffersen recently called for…increase annual military appropriations by $730 million. German arms maker Rheinmetall has announced that it has won a contract from Norway for the delivery of nearly 300 advanced TG3 MIL 8x8 military trucks. The contract was signed in Oslo by Gro Jeare, director of the Norwegian Defense Material Agency (NDMA), and Michael Wittlinger, chairman of the board of Rheinmetall. and is worth over 150 million euros.In terms of sheer volume, this is the largest single truck order placed to date from Norway.

The package is advertised as "an upgrade to Norwegian military transport capacity" and operational capabilities, and features multiple vehicle variants, including hook loader trucks, special vehicles with crane and hook loader systems, as well as trailers and flatbeds.Further additional orders likely, with Michael Wittlinger of the German arms giant boasting 25,000 workers noting that "more and more NATO militaries are opting for our TG and HX vehicles".

The same adds that the data represents an "important step towards greater interoperability and resilience".Rheinmetall's military product portfolio includes air defense systems, weapons and ammunition, tracked armored vehicles and tactical wheeled vehicles.Norway is increasing its defense allocations together with its Nordic neighbours.

In a new report, the country's defense chief, Eirik Kristoffersen, has called for increasing military allocations by NOK 8 billion ($730 million) each year from 2025 to 2031, citing "a higher likelihood of a conflict than involves Norway".According to Kristoffersen, the money should be invested in strengthening intelligence, acquiring new helicopters and submarines, as well as creating new units and strengthening the air alert chain.

On June 6, the German defense conglomerate Rheinmetall will supply more than 20 Marder armored infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, which will add to those already delivered to the country committed to repelling the Russian invasion. As reported by the newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", according to the order that the company received from the German Ministry of Defence, the tanks must arrive in the former Soviet republic "by the end of July". Rheinmetall has offered Ukraine another 60 examples, which have yet to be modernized. Meanwhile, the country invaded by Russia received 40 Marders from Germany, 20 from the depots of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and 20 from the Rheinmetall warehouses.

Produced by this same company, the vehicle has been in service in the German army since 1970, which is gradually replacing it with the Puma, an armored infantry fighting vehicle developed by the Projekt System & Management (Psm) consortium, formed by Rheinmetall with the German defense group Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW).