Finland to participate in Cold Response 2022 in Northern Norway 

The Finnish Defence Forces will participate in the winter exercise Cold Response 2022 organised by the Norwegian Armed Forces in the area of Narvik–Bardufoss in Northern Norway from 18 March to 2 April 2022. Participation in the exercise will develop national defence capability, bilateral cooperation with Norway as well as defence cooperation with Sweden.  

The exercise will be participated by altogether 680 personnel in total from the Finnish Defence Forces, of whom c. 470 will be conscripts and 30 reservists. The participating training audience units will mainly be from the Kainuu Brigade, Jaeger Brigade and Pori Brigade. Alongside the Army units the exercise will also be participated by staff and liaison officers from the Defence Command, Navy, Air Force, Finnish Defence Forces’ C5 Agency and Finnish Defence Forces’ Logistics Command. The main equipment of the Finnish training audience force will include all-terrain carriers, Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks and heavy rocket launchers.   

The exercise will improve Army units’ capability and execution of operations as well as readiness to operate in arctic and international environments. The majority of the training audience units to attend will be Army readiness units with sustained competence for operating on demanding combat missions. 

– In this exercise we will carry out testing of conscripts’ international interoperability and capability as well as exercise reservists in wartime tasks. This exercise will also enhance our readiness to use host nation support as well as concentrate forces, DCOS Army Operations, Brigadier General Tero Ylitalo explains.  

The exercise is a planned part of the bilateral cooperation between Finland and Norway and of deepening the defence cooperation between Finland and Sweden. In the exercise, a Finnish battle group will operate as part of a Swedish brigade. 

– The exercise will improve the cooperation between Finland, Sweden and Norway in the arctic area of operations while in challenging winter conditions. Training together with a Swedish brigade will enable developing FISE joint capabilities, Brigadier General Ylitalo says.  

The Finnish Ministry of Defence has approved the participation in the exercise Cold Response as part of the Finnish Defence Forces’ international training and exercise activities for 2022. Having partaken in the exercise planning, the Army has set its own national training objectives for the exercise. The exercise was previously participated by Finland in 2016. 

The exercises’ implementation will account for the host nation and national restrictions relating to the Covid-19 situation. The exercise will follow a series of precautionary measures to minimise infection risk (operating in detachments, sustaining hand hygiene, masking up). The training audience troops will avoid unnecessary contacts prior to the transition to Norway. The troops will undergo testing before leaving for the exercise and after arrival in Norway.

Cold Response 2022

• An exercise under the leadership of the Norwegian Armed Forces in winter conditions, Cold Response 2022 will involve up to about 30,000 troops in total from a number of participating countries.
• The exercise will be organised in Southern, Central and Northern Norway from 14 March to 1 April 2022.
• The exercise organisation will comprise the Norwegian Armed Forces, partner countries such as Finland and Sweden, as well as Nato member nations. The US, the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands will account for the largest part of the training audience forces.
• Arranged every two years, the exercise was previously participated by Finland in 2016. The exercise planned for 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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