Last week, Labour Party veteran Haakon Lie said that the Government should buy the Swedish fighter or risk losing next year's general election. Several other senior former politicians are now entering the debate.
"Will Sweden’s neutrality mean that the Swedes won't be able to service and deliver parts to their JAS Gripen fighters?" asks Labour Party veteran Ronald Bye.
Former Labour Party chairman, Reiulf Steen, wants Norway to buy the Swedish plane. He has been a strong NATO supporter since the beginning, but doesn’t like the way it has changed in recent years. "It's become like a 21st century foreign legion, where the USA, through NATO, attacks whatever it doesn't like," says Steen. He thinks that, with the right guarantees, Norway should buy the Swedish plane.
Former Conservative Prime Minister, Kåre Willoch, thinks that the debate is becoming too emotionally charged. "It would be irresponsible if the choice was made on the basis of public opinion at election time, rather than after careful study of each planes technical abilities," says Willoch.
He is concerned that the Swedish company may not be financially strong enough to honour its commitment to supply parts and updates over decades.
He adds that the American plane is not necessarily to be preferred from a foreign policy point of view.
Oddmund Hammerstad, Willoch’s former State Secretary for Defense, has changed his mind and now wants the Swedish plane, "because it’s the most suitable for Norwegian conditions." He is satisfied with Swedish government guarantees.
Will all future Swedish governments be willing to supply fighter parts? Will the producers of the Gripen be able to give guarantees? "No, we can't," says spokesman for the JAS 39 Gripen, Hans Rosén. "Norway doesn't buy the Gripen from SAAB, but from the Swedish government. Norway will get the guarantees it requires," he asserts.
