Harry S. Truman carrier strike group on exercise inside the Arctic Circle

The giant U.S. Navy carrier is currently sailing Vestfjorden near the Lofoten archipelago, training with the Norwegian Air Force.

“It is a powerful force we now get to practice with, which also demonstrates our allies’ ability and willingness to defend Norwegian areas of interest in the north,” says Colonel Ole Marius Tørrisplass, Chief of the 132nd Air Wing – Norway’s fleet of F-35 fighter jets at Ørland Air Station. The entire carrier group of warships sailing with the USS Harry S. Truman are currently in the waters inside the Arctic Circle. Vestfjorden, between Bodø and the Lofoten archipelago, provides an strategically important shelter for air- and navy operations, both for the Nordic countries and the North Atlantic connecting USA with northern Europe. The British carrier Prince of Wales was operating in the area both in 2022 and during NATO’s exercise Nordic Response earlier this year.

Last year, the USS Gerald R. Ford sailed Vestfjorden as part of the Arctic Challenge Exercise, a biannual Nordic air force drill with planes from both northern Sweden and Finland, in addition to the Norwegian Air Force. The ongoing training that involves the 65 aircraft on USS Harry S. Truman and Norwegian F-35 from Ørland Air Station will take place all from Trøndelag in the south to Troms in the north. “This is a unique opportunity to train with our most important ally.

This is a force larger than the entire Norwegian Air Force, says Colonel Tørrisplass. Last week, Norway received two more F-35 fighter jets, bringing the number of operative planes to 40. By next summer, Norway will have 52 such planes. The majority of aircraft onboard the American carrier are fighter jets, but there are also helicopters and and a few support planes.