Norwegian and British soldiers were simulating a scenario of force to protect the air wing at Evenes from an approaching enemy, explained Lieutenant Colonel Marte Gytri, commander of the Base Defence Battalion at the Evenes Air Station located above the Arctic Circle, just a few hundred kilometres (miles) from Russia.

Around 32,000 soldiers, 100 aircraft and 30 warships from 14 allied countries are taking part in NATO's Cold Response exercise from March 9-19 in northern Norway and Finland.

With winter conditions varying from extreme cold to milder, wet weather, the Norway-led land, sea and air exercises were "a test of the right equipment and human robustness", Gytri said.

Allied troops are learning to operate smoothly together in challenging conditions in the Arctic, a region that has rapidly become a strategic priority for NATO.

The roar of aeroplanes echoed from the nearby Evenes air base that also serves as a civilian airport, nestled among fjords and snowy mountains.

During the first days of the exercise, Norwegian fighter jets were twice scrambled from the base to identify Russian aircraft off Norway's northern coast.

That Russia was keeping a close eye on the largest NATO exercise in the area this year was expected, according to the Norwegian military.

In recent years, Russian aircraft have been spotted around 30 to 40 times a year in international airspace near Norway's coast, Colonel Hans Martin Steiro told AFP.

"We are training together with allies in the same way that we would do in a crisis and war," he explained, standing on the runway in his grey pilot uniform as rain poured down.

- 'Ready for war' -

The Evenes airport is the "most important military installation" in northern Norway due to its air control capability and its proximity to Russia, he noted.

Here, two F-35s are always on standby, ready to take off in 15 minutes.

"Everyday when I wake up I need to think, 'What can I do to prepare to win the war and (defeat) the enemy?'," Steiro said.

"Today, most probably the nearest enemy will be Russia."

His message to Russian President Vladimir Putin was clear: "We are ready for war."

In addition to sending up aircraft close to Norway, Moscow has also announced that it would be conducting live fire missile tests near the Norwegian waters of the Barents Sea during the NATO exercise.

"The temporarily increased presence of Allied naval and air forces in and above the northern waters provides an opportunity for Russia to gather intelligence and observe how NATO forces operate under Arctic conditions," Kristian Atland, a senior research fellow at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, told AFP.

Whether the Russian missile tests were coincidental "or intended as some form of signal to Norway and NATO is difficult to say," said Atland.

Russia's response to the NATO exercise is "exactly what we would expect", said the head of the Norwegian army, Major General Lars Lervik.

"Our intent is to demonstrate that we are deterring any threats and we are posing no threat to anyone. This is about defence, not about attacking anyone," he said.

In February, NATO launched its Arctic Sentry mission to bolster security in the region, a move to assuage US President Donald Trump after he backed off claims on Greenland, which he has argued Washington needs for national security reasons.

Russia has meanwhile been ramping up defence of its strategic assets on the Kola Peninsula and its nuclear arsenal.

"Under the current circumstances Russia has strong incentives not to destabilise the situation in the region," said Atland.

In the northern port town of Narvik, Vice Admiral Rune Andersen, chief of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters and leader of Cold Response, was following a large health preparedness exercise involving civilian and military personnel.

Considering the "facts on the ground", the security situation in the Arctic was currently "relatively stable", he said.

ank/po/ach

ADMIRAL GROUP