The Government of Norway has unveiled a comprehensive roadmap aimed at bolstering the defence industry's production capacity, with a significant investment of Nkr967m ($89.9m).

This initiative is in response to meet the increasing demand for military equipment in Norway, Ukraine, and their allies.

The ministers of Defence and Trade and Industry have highlighted the urgency to scale up production in the wake of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Norwegian Defence Minister Bjørn Arild Gram said: “The security situation has created a significant and urgent need for defence materiel in Ukraine, among our allies, and domestically.

“The roadmap is a comprehensive plan to help increase production capacity in the Norwegian defence industry. With this, we are taking responsibility for contributing to meeting the needs of Ukraine, our nation, and our allies.”

The funding to support four new initiatives aimed at increasing production capacity.

The measures are part of the government's Nansen programme, a Norwegian civilian and military support programme for the Ukraine with a budget of Nkr75bn for the period 2023-2027.

The first measure will support Norwegian small and medium-sized enterprises with Nkr342m to accelerate the industrial production of advanced products for Ukrainian forces.

Managed by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, the programme has already supported several companies and is now expanding to back more projects.

The second measure is support for a Nammo facility in Raufoss. The government will co-fund a fourth rocket motor production line.

Additionally, the government is co-funding the development of hexamine production, a crucial component for advanced military explosives.

Finally, the government, in collaboration with Chemring Nobel, is initiating a feasibility study to explore the potential of a new military explosives production facility.

This study will consider environmental standards, workforce recruitment, and critical local infrastructure, including power supply, to ensure the project's viability.

Gram added: “We will increase our support for innovations in Norwegian defence companies developing materiel for use in Ukraine; we are backing Nammo’s ambition to establish a new production line for rocket motors; we are strengthening the Norwegian value chain for the production of explosives, and we are looking into the possibility of establishing a new facility for the production of military explosives in Norway.”