Cold Response
Cold Response is a Norwegian-led military exercise held every two years together with our allies and partner nations.
Norway is a leading nation in NATO when it comes to cold-weather operations, and has extensive experience in this field. This makes Norway a natural and experienced host for winter exercises such as Cold Response. The last Cold Response was held in March 2022. The Norwegian government, along with the Finnish and Swedish governments, are planning a lager version of the exercise in 2024, called Nordic Response. More details will come in the time ahead.
Read about Cold Response 2022 in the link below.
The main aim of Cold Response is to secure the Norwegian Armed Forces and allies' ability to conduct multinational joint exercises with a high-intensity combat scenario in demanding winter conditions.
In order to secure freedom, security, predictability and stability it is vital that Norwegian forces train regularly together with allies and partners.
Through exercises such as Cold Response the participants exercise together in demanding weather conditions in a realistic way. This makes Cold Response an important exercise.
Allied reinforcement
Our ability to receive allied reinforcements is essential when it comes to defending Norway in a crisis situation. As a part of the exercise the Norwegian Armed Forces will receive allied forces by collaborating with civilian actors through the total defence concept.
The concept is the sum of Norway's civilian and military resources working together to prevent and manage crisis, armed conflicts and wars. If a serious situation should arise, civilian and military forces are mutually interdependent.
Participants
Cold Response is led by the Norwegian Joint Headquarters. The Cold Response exercises have been conducted in even-numbered years since 2006. In odd-numbered years, the Norwegian Joint Headquarters usually conducts a smaller winter exercise. The last Cold Response exercise was held in the winter of 2022.
Openness and transparency
Openness is important for building trust and preventing misunderstandings. Therefore, the Norwegian Armed Forces will make sure to follow the Vienna Document. This is an agreement made between the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) member states.
The agreement aims to secure military stability and reduce the risk of war by imposing states to implement security and confidence building measures. Norway invites observers from all the 56 member nations in OSCE – including Russia – to the exercise.