As part of enhancing NATO’s coverage of the arctic and Nordic regions, NATO has opened its Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) Bodø in Bodø, Norway. NATO leadership celebrated the center’s opening with senior Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish officials (see image above). The opening also represented a formal transfer of NATO authority for the region to Norwegian Major General Tron Strand, the first Commander of CAOC Bodø.
Air Marshal Johnny Stringer, Acting Commander of NATO Allied Air Command, detailed during the ceremony, “Today, we inaugurate a critical and pivotal Command and Control node for further securing NATO Airspace.” He added, “NATO is supremely grateful to the Norwegians for hosting this enhanced C2 capability in the High North.
By extending the capabilities of NATO CAOCs in Uedem, Germany, and Torrejón, Spain, CAOC Bodø builds an integrated, redundant command network for Allied air operations. The CAOCs work together to plan, direct, and coordinate the activities of NATO Air Forces, monitoring as many as 30,000 air movements across European NATO airspace each day.
The third CAOC in the region, in Bodø, will boost the operational awareness in the High North. Specifically, it will build redundancy into NATO’s air command and control (C2) capabilities for the region.
The triple CAOC approach enables dispersed air operations from multiple locations across the Alliance for greater flexibility, survivability, and coordination as maintaining security for the region grows more complex with time.
Norway has safeguarded the Alliance’s northern skies continuously since 1961 through its Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) mission, intercepting and identifying unidentified aircraft to protect NATO airspace. CAOC Bodø will inherent the Norwegian QRA. Security will be maintained with the aid of Norwegian and Allied pilots flying F-35 Lightning II jet fighter aircraft. CAOC Bodø is expected to assume additional missions and capabilities over time.
