The US Navy is still considering the possibility of acquiring the Olavsvern naval base in Norway, which was used during the Cold War as a homeport for American nuclear submarines. Its regular operation ceased in 2009.
The Olavsvern base is attractive to the American fleet because it is essentially carved into the rock, but the acquisition has not yet been successful, as Norway has not granted permission for the purchase, despite years of negotiations. This information was reported by The War Zone portal.
As detailed by the authors of the publication, the last time a US Navy submarine docked at Olavsvern was in 2009, after which the facility has essentially remained unused. The US Navy wants to acquire it because owning Olavsvern would allow for regular patrols of the Barents Sea, where the Russian fleet frequently demonstrates its presence.
At the same time, there is no reason to worry about the viability of this base, as its main structures are located beneath the rock at a depth of nearly 275 meters; the dock area covers 2,972 square meters, the entrance tunnel is nearly one thousand meters long, and the total area of all structures is 25,080 square meters.
0Interestingly, the construction of the Olavsvern base began back in the 1950s under NATO auspices, with costs estimated at 450 million dollars (likely at the then-current exchange rate), and initially, the facility was intended to serve as a highly secure and deeply buried fuel storage. However, by the 1960s, the US Navy started using Olavsvern as a base for its nuclear submarines.
It is clear that, in this case, the acquisition of the Olavsvern base would not mean that the American military would arrive to find everything ready. For starters, they would need to restore the infrastructure for servicing submarines and simultaneously reconfigure the docks and entrance tunnel to accommodate modern nuclear submarines.
1On the other hand, this facility is needed by the US military in any configuration, as they require infrastructure to demonstrate presence and deter Russia in the Arctic region.
It is quite possible that the failure of the Americans to acquire the Olavsvern base is more related to communication shortcomings. From a formal standpoint, the Norwegian government has not owned this facility since 2013, when it was purchased by the private company WilNor Governmental Services, which specializes in military logistics; additionally, this base is also used for the annual training of the Dutch Navy's marine corps.
Earlier, Defense Express reported that the USA wanted to deploy 600 Iceman missiles in Greenland, not to mention the strategic Thule base.
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