Norway has selected the city of Bodø, located above the Arctic Circle, to host a permanent NATO Air Operations Command and Control Centre (CAOC), the Norwegian government announced on Tuesday.
This development comes as neighbouring Russia seeks to bolster its influence in the Arctic by opening or modernising military bases there.
At a ministerial meeting in February, NATO countries agreed to establish a third air command centre in Europe, tasking Norway with deciding its location.
The choice was between Bodø, already home to the Norwegian Armed Forces’ operations centre located within a mountain, and Rygge in the southeast.
“The main reason for choosing Bodø is geopolitical,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told TV2. “We want NATO to have a presence in the North.”
No opening date has been announced for the future CAOC, which will coordinate air surveillance and plan and execute NATO military air operations in the region.
NATO already has two similar centres in Europe, one in Germany and another in Spain.
