Artilleribataljonen
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Artilleribataljonen (Artillery Battalion) comprises the complete artillery force of Norway, numbering some 550 soldiers and officers and 12 M109AG3N self-propelled howitzers (under mobilization, the force will expand to 50-60 howitzers). The Battalion consists of five batteries:
- Battery Nils (Batteri Nils)
- Battery Olga (Batteri Olga)
- Battery Piraja (Batteri Piraja)
- HQ Battery (Stabsbatteriet)
- FO Battery (Lokaliseringsbatteriet)
Batteries N, O and P are the gun batteries. Each has 4 M109s and some 80 soldiers. Nils and Olga are situated at Setermoen Camp, while Piraja is situated at Rena. Each of the batteries has a staff that serves, together with the Staff Battery, as the link between the Localization Battery and the cannons in the field. In addition they have an OP troop that cooperates with the Artillery Rangers in forward positions.
HQ bty consists of support and supply personnel. They provide the cannon batteries with the resources they need to fight (ammunition, distance, elevation and weather data and security).
The FO (Forward observers) Battery comprises the Artillery observers (Artillerijegere), who moves in forward positions, finding targets for the cannons.
The battalion also has a WLS-troop (radar), that is used in counter-battery fire. When enemy artillery fires, the WLS radar detects the projectile and uses its trajectory to calculate where it was fired from. This data is then sent to the ILS and the cannon battery staffs, which in turn use this to coordinate the cannons in an effort to take out the enemy battery.
