Norway is implementing an adopted plan to expand its Army from one to three brigades by 2036, while Oslo’s city government is proposing new spending on public shelters and municipal crisis readiness. The two initiatives are different in status: the national force plan was adopted in 2024, while Oslo’s 2027–2030 budget package remains a proposal.
By Land Offset PAI
Sept. 21, 2026
OSLO, Norway — Norway’s long-term defense plan calls for the Army to grow from one to three land-combat brigades by 2036. The plan includes completing Brigade North as a heavy-infantry formation, developing the Finnmark Brigade and establishing reservist-based Brigade South. It is part of a wider defense framework with an additional NOK 600 billion proposed for 2025–2036 and NOK 1.624 trillion in total defense spending over that period.1
The Norwegian Armed Forces says the Storting unanimously adopted the government’s long-term-plan proposal in June 2024. Individual units, capabilities and personnel growth remain implementation objectives through 2036, not a statement that the final force is already fielded.2
Outgoing Army chief Maj. Gen. Lars S. Lervik told NTB that Norway should plan to be surprised by the character of a future war and remain flexible. He said soldiers on the ground, uncrewed systems, leadership and allied presence remain enduring requirements, while the exact form of a future conflict is unknown. Lervik described the Army as on track against politically authorized growth, with much work still to do; that is his assessment, not an independent readiness audit.3
Forsvarets Forum characterized the buildup as a tripling of the Army’s size by 2036. The official record supports the more precise formulation that the Army is planned to expand from one to three brigades. It does not establish that total personnel, budget, equipment or combat power will each triple.1 3
Separately, Oslo’s city government plans to present its 2027 budget proposal Sept. 23. NRK reported that the proposed 2027–2030 package would set aside nearly NOK 400 million for preparedness, including NOK 330 million to upgrade and rehabilitate public shelters. The city’s budget page identifies the material as a proposal, so the allocation should not be described as an adopted appropriation.4 5
The proposal follows a 2023 municipal audit that found several Oslo and Sporveien shelters were not maintained adequately, that none of the examined entities had adequate maintenance routines, and that unclear responsibility created a risk of failing to place shelters in operation within the required 72 hours in a wartime emergency.6
NRK reported that Oslo has 33 public shelters with capacity for about 60,000 people and roughly 3,000 private shelters. The planned NOK 330 million is described as funding public shelters; it does not establish that private shelters will be upgraded under the package or that all public shelter places are currently operational.5
The lead’s broader discussion of Russian reconstitution is an assessment rather than a forecast of a definite conflict. In the NTB interview, Defense Minister Tore O. Sandvik said Norway is concerned Russia could rebuild capacity after the war in Ukraine and said Norway was responding through national defense, NATO integration and new capabilities.3
Source note: This report follows a LinkedIn post by the European Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers, reposted by Irina Tsukerman, that linked to the Lervik interview and related preparedness reporting.7