U.S. Navy SEALs conduct maritime training with Norwegian special operations commandos as part of exercise Nordic Response on March 1, 2024, in Norway. Special Operations Command Europe kicked off exercise Adamant Serpent on Oct. 12, 2025, at Rygge Air Base, Norway, bringing together around 400 U.S., Danish, Norwegian and Swedish special forces for two weeks of drills in the High North. (William Carlisle/U.S. Navy)
STUTTGART, Germany — U.S. special operators are working on quick-reaction drills this week in Norway pairing elite American troops and hundreds of allied forces with a focus on securing the increasingly strategic High North.
Exercise Adamant Serpent, which began Sunday and lasts two weeks, brings together some 400 allied special operations troops, U.S. Special Operations Command Europe said in a statement ahead of the exercise’s start.
U.S. special operators “will provide critical capabilities that address complex security challenges in response to adversarial aggression,” SOCEUR commander Lt. Gen. Richard Angle said in the statement.
The drills are staged from Rygge Air Base, which has become a focal point for the Pentagon in the Arctic. The U.S. has an array of projects underway at the location, where $200 million is being invested to develop the site into a hub for American troops rotating into the area.
This year’s exercise is focused on rapidly deploying U.S. and allied units to arctic and subarctic environments to rehearse fighting as a unified force, the Stuttgart-based SOCEUR said.
U.S. Air Force special tactics commandos perform military free-fall operations during exercise Adamant Serpent in Sweden on Nov. 19, 2024. This year’s iteration, which began Sunday, brings together around 400 U.S., Danish, Norwegian and Swedish forces for two weeks of drills in Norway and Sweden. (Cody Mott/U.S. Air Force)
The strategic value of the High North has increased over the years, as melting sea ice opens the possibility of new shipping lanes and greater access to undersea natural resources that the Kremlin has its eye on. Russia has sought to fortify its position in the region with numerous military bases now in operation.
“Adamant Serpent is a very strategic exercise and with current global security dynamics, this gives a realistic backdrop,” Norwegian Brig. Gen. Thomas Harlem said in the statement.
Danish and Swedish troops also are taking part in the exercise, with Sweden hosting some of the training events.
Adamant Serpent kicked off on the heels of NATO’s inauguration Friday of the new Combined Air Operations Centre in Bodo, Norway. It is focused on enhancing the alliance’s ability to perform operations across the Arctic.
In addition, the special operations drills in Norway and Sweden overlap with another major NATO training event this week.
On Monday, the alliance kicked off its annual nuclear readiness exercise Steadfast Noon, which involved airspace over the North Sea. That exercise is focused on refining NATO procedures for executing its nuclear mission.
“We need to do this because it helps us to make sure that our nuclear deterrent remains as credible and as safe and as secure and as effective as possible,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said in a statement last week. “It also sends a clear signal to any potential adversary that we will and can protect and defend all allies against all threats.”
