Ukraine conflict and the Norwegian defence industry

The Chief Revenue Officer for NFM, Jon Gultvedt, was a keynote speaker at the FSI annual “Land Defence System” seminar in Oslo, where he shared some raw data on the impact the war has had on NFM. 

– Since NFM is a major entity in the Norwegian defence industry, and considering our own experiences related to the war in Ukraine, we were one of four members invited to share our view on the conflict at the conference, says Gultvedt. 

High ranking officials attend the event

“FSI” is the Norwegian Defense and Security Industry Association and this year’s event was attended by 180 participants. It focused on Ukraine and how the industry and the Armed Forces can work together to secure materials and resources for the land forces.

These events that FSI hosts are important for NFM to attend as FSI is the primary voice for the Norwegian government on behalf of the Norwegian defence and security industries.  

The attendees focused their attention on the expert keynote speakers presenting at the event including; high-ranking members of the Norwegian Defence Forces, NFM, NAMMO, Rheinmetall, Thales and Maritime Robotics. Presentations revolved around the conflict in Ukraine and how it is affecting the defence industry. 

– Jon’s presentation held the interest of everyone in that room. I believe this is due to the enormous investments NFM has made to both European production and their assistance to the Ukrainian people, stated Geir Ruud, the CEO of NOR Development Group 

What initiatives has NFM put in place?

At the beginning of 2022, NFM realised that there was a strong possibility that Russia would invade the Ukraine. As a result, NFM implemented measures to ensure the safety of our Ukrainian staff and production levels should this occur. Jon discussed the milestones NFM achieved since the start of this conflict:  

• Closed the NFM Production facilities in Lviv Ukraine 
• Offered employment to all those Ukrainian employees in Poland 
• Sold 100,000 vests systems to Ukraine, some of which are being made by these refugees 
• NFM has doubled production (although there has been a steady increase since 2020)
• Production facilities being established in Bulgaria

Solutions to maintain production levels

NFM is also proud to contribute several innovative and reliable solutions that increase the Norwegian Armed Forces’ operational capability today. One of which is securing materials domestically to minimize a shortfall for their current and future orders.