U.S. Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicles line up by the Trondheim Fjord, Norway, Jan. 9. These vehicles from the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway will support exercise Cold Response 16, scheduled for later this month, with crisis response equipment including M1A1 battle tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, artillery, and logistics equipment drawn from Norwegian caves. (Photo: U.S. Marine Corps)
U.S. Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicles line up by the Trondheim Fjord, Norway, Jan. 9. These vehicles from the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway will support exercise Cold Response 16, scheduled for later this month, with crisis response equipment including M1A1 battle tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, artillery, and logistics equipment drawn from Norwegian caves. (Photo: U.S. Marine Corps)

Echoing previous deployments during the Cold War, the Obama Administration is deploying a significant number of tanks and artillery forces into a series of secret caves near the Russian border in Norway. Officials say the caves have 6,500 pieces of equipment, and have in recent years been used to “support” the war in Iraq.

Nominally, the new deployment is aimed at a new round of military drills, but Pentagon officials are also talking up the notion that the new deployment of tanks will “reduce the cost” of a future conflict with Russia.

Norway’s Defense Ministry says the new deployments are necessary to “maintain credibility” of the NATO alliance along the Russian border. Norway pays a significant portion of the costs of the upkeep of the caves.

This deployment is separate from the massive amounts of US and NATO troops being thrown at Eastern Europe, similarly on the Russian border, but seems to be in the same vein, based on the assumption that the alliance is ultimately going to go to war with Russia over something or other.

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