Leif Tronstad Began Thinking Aloud About Something the British Had and That Norway Was Missing: Military Research

75TH ANNIVERSARY MAGAZINE FROM THE NORWEGIAN DEFENCE RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT (FFI)

1946–2021 PROUD PAST, EXCITING FUTURE

FFI 75 years 3 VITEN IS NORWEGIAN FOR 'KNOWLEDGE' AND IS FFI'S MAGAZINE AIMED AT A WIDER AUDIENCE. THIS IS A SPECIAL EDITION TO CELEBRATE FFI'S 75TH ANNIVERSARY.

2 FFI 75 years NORWEGIAN DEFENCE RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT

On 11 April 1946, the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) decided to establish the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI). FFI has now been supplying knowledge and ideas for an effective Norwegian defence for 75 years. The story continues. Here are the stories of a proud past and an exciting future.

FFI 75 years 1 PUBLISHER: FFI

PROJECT MANAGER: Grethe Skaugvoll

EDITOR: Lars Aarønæs 04 40 DESIGN: Grete Alvestad Tina Hay Iversen James Bond and I A lifetime of construction kits Isabel Nordang

PHOTOGRAPHY: Espen Wang-Naveen

[email protected]

COVER/ILLUSTRATIONS: Martin Hvattum / ByHands

CONTRIBUTORS: Bjørn Fremstad Wenche Gerhardsen Anne-Lise Hammer Espen Hofoss Jan Olav Langseth Ålov Runde Tone Elisabeth Vesteng Solberg

PHOTO: Lars-Erik Berg Fieldmade Forsvaret Terje Heiestad Director General John-Mikal Størdal is fond of secrets. He put his mark on the institute for a quarter of a Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace Now, he is sharing some of them with us. century. Meccano construction kits set the course. KDA FFI, too, was a construction kit for the remarkable NAMMO NASA / JPL-Caltech Director General and national strategist Finn Lied. Norsk Industriarbeidermuseum Norsk Romsenter / UTIAS / AdobeStock NTB Espen Rasmussen / VG Reuters / Rosatom Paul White / TT Nyhetsbyrån FFI

02.2021 Printing: 07 gruppen Edition: 500 (06/2021) P ISBN: 978-82-464-3323-3 E ISBN: 978-82-464-3324-0 P ISSN: 2535-2679 E ISSN: 2535-2687 30 The penguin learned to fly 66 They study terrorism When Norway’s first research and development The researchers in the TERRA Project are now among project was launched, it was really too big an under- the world`s most knowledgeable on international Follow us: Facebook taking for such a small country. The Penguin missiles terrorism and Jihadism. Instagram became the start of an industrial adventure that LinkedIn continues to this day. ffi.no/en

Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI)

Visiting address: Instituttveien 20 NO-2007 Kjeller

Postal address: P.O. Box 25 NO-2027 Kjeller

Telephone: +47 63 80 70 00 52 Soul searchers 72 Super measurer Can a research institute have a soul? Historians Can a super-precise measuring device be 55 metres Olav Wicken and Olav Njølstad found traces of in length and weigh hundreds of tons? It can, if its something resembling a soul. Together, they wrote name is H.U. Sverdrup II. Climb aboard. the book Kunnskap som våpen (Knowledge as a weapon), the story of FFI’s first 30 years.

2 VITEN / FFI 75 år 90 The space scouts CONTENT

We are James Bond’s Q ...... 04 This is FFI ...... 10 Everything is top-secret, right? ...... 12 Made in England ...... 14 Don’t you actually need a million? ...... 16 The Chief of Defence lends his ear to FFI ...... 18 This mix is magical ...... 20 You are Nammo’s technology scouts ...... 21 The short way is the best way ...... 21 Leadership is understanding ...... 22 Can spare parts fit in your pocket? ...... 26 How the penguin learned to fly ...... 30 We have a secret treasure trove ...... 34 "Hey Armed Forces! I have an idea" ...... 38 Finn was the system builder ...... 40 How can tiny satellites reveal sinister ships in Norwegian waters? What secrets can be found FFI Director Generals ...... 48 around Saturn and on Mars? Several outer space scouts have been developed at FFI. We must be prepared ...... 50 Can an institute have a soul? ...... 52 Minesweeping with Hugin ...... 58 Sensors characterise the battlefields of the future 62 The terrorism researchers ...... 66 Kjeller was first online ...... 68 How Sverdrup uncovers the deep sea ...... 72 From industrial mechanics to civil protection ...... 76 The new trends may change everything ...... 78 Highlights from the past 75 years ...... 80 Spermal was Norwegian napalm ...... 82 Where is FFI heading? ...... 84 Mars, Saturn and hidden ships will be revealed ... 90 84 Four challenges 118 Armstrong at Spåtind The hunt for viruses ...... 94 What research fields will be the most exciting He was the first man on the moon. But what Moments of history ...... 98 in the coming decade? We have explored four was Neil Armstrong (on the left) doing with The images I will never forget ...... 118 of them in more detail. FFI’s Olav Blichner at the Spåtind Mountain A radioactive researcher in the corridor ...... 122 Hotel? See the pictures photographer Bjørn How to avoid an explosion ...... 124 Fremstad will never forget. Summer internships are awesome ...... 126

1948 1955 1967 1972 1990 2003 2018

EKKOLODD NÆRHETSBRANNRØR FOR BOMBEKASTER MISSILMOTOR REGISTRERENDE BUNNSTASJON EPITEK-LABORATORIET INNVIES JOINT STRIKE MISSILE (JSM) JOINT STRIKE MISSILE (JSM) Utvikling av asdic (ekkolodd) Gjennombrudd for miniatyrelektronikk gjør bombe- FFI og Raufoss Ammunisjons- Prototyp for registrerende bunnstasjon Det første i sitt slag innenfor Forstudier av Joint Strike Missile Første velykkede skyting til havneforsvar starter. FFIs kastere mer effektive. Et viktig arbeid for FFI starter. fabrikk utvikler motor for lages. Den samler data på havbunnen kommunikasjon og elektrooptikk (JSM) starter. med JSM. teknologi blir kommersialisert Penguin Mk1. og er uavhengig av fartøy. i Skandinavia. gjennom Simrad, med suksess NYTT KAMPFLY 3D-PRINTING TELEVERKETS hos fiskeflåten. 1957 1960 1973 NYTT FORSKNINGSSKIP FFIs støtte til valg av nytt kampfly På Nato-øvelsen Trident FORSKNINGSINSTITUTT Forskningsskipet «H.U. Sverdrup II» starter. Juncture demonstreres INSTITUTT FOR ATOMENERGI opprettes på Kjeller, som avløser «H.U. Sverdrup I» (1960). 3D-printing av reserve- (IFA, seinere IFE) opprettes på FØRSTE DATAMASKIN TREKANTSAMARBEIDET avlegger av FFI. DATATEKNOLOGI/INTERNETT FØRSTE PRESSEKONFERANSE deler i felt. Kjeller, som avlegger av FFI. FFI får sin første Samarbeidet mellom Forsvaret, industrien 15. juni er FFI på Kjeller første sted utenfor VÅPENSTASJON FFI kaller inn til sin første presse- elektroniske regne- og FFI begynner å ta form. USA som kobles til Arpanet, forløperen til Utvikling av fjernstyrt konferanse noensinne. Temaet er INNOVASJON 1945 1953 maskin/datamaskin, 1968 internettet. 1983 våpenstasjon starter. 1999 en rykende fersk FFI-rapport: 2009 Prosjektet ICE worx, 2021 Frederic. SVERDRUP Al-Qaidas mediestrategi. FFIs innovasjonssenter, Forskningsskipet «H.U. Sverdrup I» BØYUMS METODE TERRORISMEFORSKNING JOINT STRIKE MISSILE (JSM) etableres. FREDEN ER HER FELLES- avløser «Tustna» (1946). KONGSBERG (KDA) GEORADAREN RIMFAX Andre verdenskrig VERKSTED Arne Bøyums metode for etablerer seg på Kjeller, for å være FFI begynner å forske på Utvikling av Joint Strike Nasas Mars-rover celleseparasjon lanseres. terrorisme og assymetriske Missile (JSM) starter. er slutt. Ideen om å Fellesverk- tett på FFI og utviklinga av søke- 2014 «Perseverance» lander etablere FFI blir til 1950 stedet på 1958 1961 1974 hodet til Penguin. 1991 1994 trusler (Terra). 2005 18. februar 2021. Den konkrete planer. Kjeller opp- PENGUIN-MISSIL bærer georadaren rettes. Dette Første vellykkede skyting RADIOSYSTEMET KOBRA Rimfax, utviklet av FFI. BEDRIFTSSKOLE blir senere TERNE-MISSILET STRÅLINGSBIOLOGI med Penguin. KAMPLEDELSESSYSTEMET SJØMÅLSMISSIL MOBILT LUFTVERNSYSTEM NANOSATELLITT NASA VELGER FFI Utvikling av radiosystemet KOBRA FFI velges som leveran- FFI får sin egen prototyp- Kongsberg Våpen- Toksikologiavdelingen opprettes, Kampledelsessystemet MSI-90U (NSM) FFI rådgir Luftforsvaret i Utvikling av nanosatellitt (Kommunikasjon for Brigadens dør av georadar til Nasas bedriftsskole. verksted. fabrikk begynner å for å styrke forskningen på radio- NORSAR for ubåter lanseres. FFI og Kongsberg leveransen av det mobile (AISSat) starter. Avdelingsluftvern) starter. neste Mars-kjøretøy, produsere Terne. aktiv stråling og nervegasser. Oppstart av prosjektet starter samarbeid luftvernsystemet Norwegian «Perseverance». Norsar, som skal drive med KAMPFLYANALYSE om Nytt Sjømåls- Advanced Surface-to-Air seismologisk registrering Kampflyanalysen sluttføres, og legger missil (NSM). Missile System (NASAMS) av atomsprengninger. grunnlag for valg av nytt kampfly. fra KDA/Raytheon. 1946 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

RADIOLINJE SJØMÅLSMISSIL (NSM) Første radiolinje for Første vellykkede skyting ANTIUBÅTVÅPEN ODIN LANGTIDSPLANLEGGING NYTT KAMPFLY F-16 NANSEN-FREGATTER AUTONOM MINERYDDING 70 ÅR Forsvaret opprettes med NSM. Utvikling av Terne FFI begynner å jobbe med Langtidsplanlegging for General Dynamics F-16 Fighting FFI starter kravspesifikasjon for FFI starter arbeidet med å gjøre FFI markerer 70 år mellom Bergen og antiubåtvåpen starter. Odin, ildledningssystemet Forsvaret blir eget forsknings- Falcon blir valgt til Norges nye NYTT SJØMÅLS- anskaffelse av Nansen-fregattene. hele mineryddingskonseptet med utstilling på Haugesund. PENGUIN-MISSIL til feltartilleriet. felt ved FFI. kampfly. MISSIL HUGIN RAPPORTER PÅ NETT autonomt. Forsvarsmuseet. Forstudien til Arbeidet med FFIs autonome FFI begynner med å TETTERE SAMARBEID 1947 1951 Penguin-missilet 1965 1970 1975 KAMPFLY F-16 søkeren til Nytt ubåt tilbakelegger 1997 publisere alle FFIs ugraderte 2010 2016 FFI utvikler tettere samarbeid med starter, under Første F-16 Sjømålsmissil hundre nautiske forskningsrapporter på nett- Justis- og beredskapsdepartementet, kodenavnet Fix. ankommer Norge. (NSM) starter. mil i Skagerak. sidene sine ffi.no blant annet innenfor samfunnssikkerhet. NYTT KAMPFLY F-35 SAMLOKASJON FFI OPPRETTES FØRSTE BRANNRØR 1959 RAKETTUTSKYTINGSANLEGG MULTI PURPOSE AMMUNITION 1980 1987 1993 2004 Lockheed Martins F-35 velges som Forsvarets mikrobio- 2019 Stortinget vedtar 11. april å opprette Brannrør (tennanordning) Ferdinand, Norges første forskningsrakett, Første flerbruksammunisjon (Multi Purpose) Norges nye kampfly. FFI har vært rådgiver. logiske laboratorium Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt. til Terne-missilet utvikles. blir skutt opp fra Oksebåsen på Andøya. lanseres av FFI og Raufoss Ammunisjonsfabrikk. samlokaliseres med FFI. BLACK HORNET TUSTNA TRÅDLØS TELEFONI UBÅTLYTTING NILU AUTONOM UBÅT TELTOVN Avtale mellom Prox Dynamics og FFI SELVGÅENDE SYSTEMER «Tustna» blir FFIs første Mikrobølgebasert radiolinje (telefoni) Sjøkabelen til det USA-finansierte lyttesystemet Norsk institutt for luftforskning opprettes, Utvikling av den autonome Forsvaret tar i bruk FFI-utviklede om å utvikle mikrohelikopteret Black Autonome systemer blir forskningsskip. åpnes mellom Oslo og Bergen. Bridge legges ut ved Stave på Andøya. som avlegger av FFI. ubåten Hugin starter. teltovner av typen M-94. Hornet for Forsvaret. satsingsområde for FFI.

1946 1954 1962 1969 1990 1996 2008 2015

Bergen Meymaneh 98 How things were 124 Avoiding explosions Oslo 1946 FFI BLIR TIL 1954 TRÅDLØS TELEFONI 1957 DATASATSING 1967 FFI SKYTER KNOPPER 1978 FØR YR 1957-83 RIVENDE UTVIKLING 1985 AMBISIØS RADIO 1990 EPITEK-LABBEN 2008 AFGHANISTAN 2015 EN DRONE I HÅNDA 2021 KORONA-FORSKNING

Stortinget vedtar 11. april å opprette Mikrobølgebasert radiolinje åpnes Særlig forskningen på missiler krever datakraft. Televerkets forskningsinstitutt blir opprettet på FFI har sin egen, lokale værradar Finn Lieds 26 år som direktør er en periode med Hanne Hunges med våpenterminalen til nett- Epitek-laboratoriet innvies, det første i sitt slag i FFI sender første operasjonsanalytiker til den De som jobber med ubemannede FFIs erfaringer med blant annet biologiske FFI. Fredrik Møller blir første direktør mellom Oslo og Bergen. Radiolinjene Harald Keilhau sitter ved FFIs første elektroniske Kjeller i 1967, Norwegian Seismic Array (NORSAR) lenge før tjenester som Yr blir alle- rivende utvikling. Budsjettet vokser fra under radiosystemet KOBRA, som skal hindre avlytting Skandinavia. Her blir det mulig å «skreddersy» halv- norskledede stabiliseringsstyrken i Meymaneh i luftfarkoster, kjent som droner, får trusselstoffer brukes til å spore virus under korona- i 1947. FFI starter med cirka 40 gaThe telefoni basert på reléoverføring, datamaskincomplete Frederic, Europas raskeste. Norsk Data i 1968, og Norsk institutt for luftforskning (NILU)history mannseie. Radaren er utviklet for 7 millioner til godt over 50 millioner. Personellet og forstyrrelser og er et viktig steg på veien mot ledere, og utvikle nye materialer og komponenter Afghanistan. utover 2000-tallet mange modeller epidemien. Arbeidet gir viten om metodebruk ved 80medarbeidere. istedenfor tradisjonelle og kostbare og Kongsberg Våpenfabrikks datadivisjon er blant i 1969. feltartilleriet. Her er det Georg W. øker fra rundt 300 til over 600. Kjeller blir et industriproduktet Multi Rolle Radio (MRR). innenfor kommunikasjon og elektrooptikk. å forske på. framtidige hendelser. Horticulture on the premises at Kjeller; what How do you prevent untimely detonation telefonlinjer. fruktene av FFIs datasatsing. Rosenberg som betjener den. teknologisk senter. did this have to do with defence research? of explosives? Summer intern Kristine Wiik We will recount the highlights from the past Explore moments of history. explains. 75 years. Find out which seven success stories researchers at FFI rank the highest.

FFI 75 years 3 LEADER / Director General John-Mikal Størdal

WE ARE JAMES BOND’S Q

Departing Director General John-Mikal Størdal believes FFI should be shrouded in a certain aura of mystery.

"We should be open and communicate Duties include coordinating and tute of Technology (NTH). Størdal everything we are at liberty to disclose. strengthening research and develop- served as Chief of Staff at FFI for three At the same time, it is clear that there ment in member states. years before he took over the helm are things happening on the inside that after Paul Narum, who stepped down relatively few will know about", says "NATO must become even better at as Director General in 2012. Størdal. inviting research and development communities to take part in innovative At age 75, is FFI in good condition? "I can tell you what I said in an interview collaboration, across departments and "Our coat of arms has been redesigned. with my local newspaper: ‘If the Norwe- national borders. This task is just as This is symbolic: During our anniver- gian Armed Forces is James Bond, then important there as it is here", he says. sary year, we will be presenting a new we must be Q’. You know, the scientist long-term plan, a new vision and a new who in each movie provides Bond with John-Mikal Størdal grew up on the structure. All this gives us a new lease newly developed equipment and tech- north side of the Hardanger Fjord, in on life. It bodes well for our future". nological gadgets that appear to come in the village of Herand in Jondal. Artist handy at crucial moments". Herborg Kråkevik undoubtedly put What has made you most proud during the town on the map. There is also a your leadership of the institute? He will soon be leaving such moments connection between the two of them: "We can look back at many achieve- to a successor. If everything goes to Herborg’s father was John-Mikal’s ments, and my colleagues here have plan, the Director General from Har- teacher in lower secondary school. His now ranked seven of these (see the danger will soon be departing his FFI. childhood home in Herand is now a fold-out on page 80). In my opinion, it This departure will occur in the early holiday home and is frequently used by would be difficult to point to specific summer of 2021. Following nine years the entire family of five. moments. I take pleasure in our people in the Director’s chair at Kjeller, Stør- succeeding and seeing that the results dal is moving to Paris. There, he will Størdal has a master’s degree in Aero- of things we have done here are impor- become the Director General of ano- nautics and Astronautics from the tant and useful. Some of the things we ther three-letter organisation: CSO. Massachusetts Institute of Techno- are especially proud of are things no The acronym stands for Collaboration logy (MIT) in United States and holds one on the outside will know about. Support Office. CSO is part of the NATO a Master of Science in Engineering This is challenging for the researchers Science and Technology Organization. Cybernetics from the Norwegian Insti- in question. Therefore, it is all the more

4 FFI 75 years JOHN-MIKAL STØRDAL (55)

Director General, FFI

RESIDENCE Asker

EMPLOYED SINCE 1992

FIELD OF EXPERTISE Astronautics and Cybernetics Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI Wang-Naveen Espen Photo:

FFI 75 years 5 Even in 2020, the year of the coronavirus, FFI had 75 summer interns. John-Mikal Størdal is pleased that FFI is now such an attractive workplace for young technologists. Photo: Christian Tandberg / FFI important that we appreciate them wit- our summer interns are accomplishing I wanted to return to Kongsberg. The hin the organisation. Recently, a colle- in the months they spend here. We have pace was so much slower here than I ague here delivered a statement to the now received a record number of appli- experienced it in commercial indus- Prime Minister. We received feedback cations. This is extremely pleasing. tries. But the tasks were appealing. I that the person in question had done A winning formula for us has always remember my first boss here, Emil Bro- a phenomenal job and highlighted a been to recruit good people. As such, dersen, told me: ‘Here at the institute, complex topic in an exceptional man- it is a positive tradition at the institute we throw you in at the deep end. Then ner. This was a ten-minute briefing. to assign challenging tasks to young we come back in a year and see if you researchers. You have to learn on the job. are floating’. I also look back at many other proud I have noted that those who developed moments. Of course, it is a big moment the Apollo Programme and the Moon I began working on missile develop- when the United States purchases mis- missions had an average age of approx- ment, which later became Naval Strike siles from Norway, that FFI has been imately 30 years. Now, the average age Missile (NSM). I saw how it was possi- part of developing. Similarly, what hap- at NASA is 60 years, while Space X em- ble to utilise information from digital pened when we presented our long- ployees have an average age of 30 years. maps. At that moment, I felt that I was term plan in the spring of 2017 was It is apparent to all who is taking the being tested to the limits of what I had pleasant. We had announced a presen- lead: It is the young people at Space X". learned. Though it was not down to tation at Oslo Military Society’s pre- me; When Teknisk Ukeblad (Techni- mises. We had not thought that many You arrived at FFI as a conscript cal Weekly Magazine) in 2015 ranked people would attend, but we had a full in 1989. What was your initial the biggest engineering achievements house. Both the Minister of Defence impression? post-WWII, Kongsberg’s dynamic po- and Chief of Defence were in atten- "That I would not be here for long! sitioning was ranked number one. FFI’s dance. In addition, the Minister of How wrong I was. I arrived fresh out missile development came in second. Research and Education and several of of NTH, where I had written my thesis Imagine that I was able to be involved the heads of the major defence works and on Kongsberg’s dynamic positioning of in both. technology companies were present. ships in the North Sea, i.e., the ‘locking’ of vessels in fixed position relative to The thing about being thrown in at Another thing that makes me proud is the seabed. To begin with, I though the the deep end came true, literally: I was to make the rounds and look at what conditions were a bit shabby at Kjeller. later given the opportunity to go on a

6 FFI 75 years In the beginning, I felt like I was stepping into shoes that I did not quite fill. I felt like I was being thrown in at the deep end.

mission and examine new submarine However, the manner in which it was defence people talk too much about the technology. In collaboration with the structured, was not conducive for me or inner workings and too little about the industry in Kongsberg, we developed the organisation to be able to maximise utility of our research projects. methods and explored Ula-class sub- the potential of our role". marines. For three-four years, we were We are unable to adequately highlight involved in research and development What have been your proudest our specialist expertise or our unsur- of methods for tracking. One problem moments during your leadership? passed results. In the field of space with submarines is that they are vulne- "A combination of two things: One is technology, we launched our own mini- rable when they are close to their tar- the overarching social mission; to safe- satellite in 2001. And the early decision get, especially with the periscope rai- guard Norway’s freedom and indepen- to begin developing missiles, which sed. Based on passive information and dence. The other is to be able to offer me- came to fruition with Penguin, was advanced mathematics, we were able to aningful tasks to colleagues at the in- especially future-oriented. demonstrate a new way of doing things. stitute. I often face the accusation that This resulted in torpedoes being able to ‘you only think about our researchers’. It is an important point that we, strike targets at greater distances than Not true. Here, we are a big machine throughout our history, have been good anyone had thought possible, with the where everyone plays their part. Staff at making changes before anyone sees submarine remaining submerged. Sim- and support functions are essential to the necessity thereof. Here, there is a ply put, we used the submarine in a no- our work. Our deliverables are big, so, direct correlation with assigning re- vel way. During an exercise in which we naturally, I do not have an overview of sponsibility to the right people and participated, commanders of foreign everything. For a long time, I attempted focusing on recruitment. We must be vessels were unable to quite compre- to at least read the summaries of all at the cutting edge. I view it as a con- hend how we accomplished this". reports. I had to give up on this. siderable freedom for us to be able to determine our own course. If we lose You became the top executive at the Not being here anymore will be strange. our lead, others will determine our institute in 2012. How did that feel? On the other hand, I think an eight- course for us. Increased research and "In the beginning, I felt like I was step- year directorship is long for FFI and it development on autonomy and use of ping into shoes that I did not quite fill. is long for me. Change will be good for artificial intelligence are examples of Once again, I felt like I was being both parties". important initiatives". thrown in at the deep end. The job required a lot of learning in the begin- Do you see areas at FFI where The Norwegian Armed Forces will ning. As the head of FFI, you have to be there is room for improvement? always be FFI’s biggest customer. both skilled and extremely motivated. "We need to improve at communicating What is this collaboration like? This is why it is a fixed-term post. Your our results. It is part of the nature of "Generally, very good, and incredibly term should not be too short, but it is researchers to account for what he or important for our results and deliver- just as detrimental to hold such a post she is doing. However, we often fail to ables. It is one of our unique strengths for too long. The modernisation efforts account for why. What utility does our that FFI staff members can work closely we began a few years ago were based on research and development work have with the Norwegian Armed Forces and the fact that we were too poorly equip- for its recipients? I liken it to smart- other clients in the real world, with an ped in some areas. The potential of FFI’s phones: The utility for us lies in what emphasis on use and utility. In this con- role was and continues to be enormous. they do, not how they are built. We text, we must be aware of the fact that

FFI 75 years 7 01

01 Chief of Defence Eirik Johan Kristoffersen in conversation with John-Mikal Størdal, during a visit to Kjeller. Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI

02 Researcher Magnus Baksaas explaining to FFI’s Director General John-Mikal Størdal how the self-driving off-road vehicle Olav works. Photo: Christian Tandberg / FFI

there is considerable respect for FFI laxed. But such misunderstandings are resign. Instead, I was able to cool off employees in the Norwegian Armed confirmed by reputation surveys we during a one-year stay in the United Forces. This is nice, but it can, at times, have conducted. The answer is that we States. That is when you understand that be a barrier to communication. An need to achieve more interaction with your superiors can be understanding". example of this is when we had delive- the outside world". red considerable research for the de- What would you say to velopment of the Nansen-class frigates. What will you miss the most the next Director General? The first commander had been hand- when you leave? "One piece of advice is as follows: A picked. We got in contact and wondered "All the inspiring colleagues, of course. researcher must be given enough space. if he could come and deliver an intro- First and foremost at FFI, but also in the I see that requirements for deliver- ductory statement for us. What were rest of the sector. Then, all the meaning- ables have become stricter. It worries his views on these ships that we had ful tasks. Truth be told, I find FFI to be me if we are not given enough time be- done so much work on? He was sche- a challenging organisation. Difficult to fore we are asked to deliver. In my first duled to arrive at 09:00. He arrived at become truly fond of, but my word, how year at FFI, I was assigned a task that 08:00. I was bewildered. This is a ge- difficult to leave". stretched over the course of a year. That nuine tough guy, but now he was ner- gave me considerable freedom. I was vous. What was the problem? Indeed, Why? given the chance to thoroughly tackle here he was tasked with telling the lea- "I don’t know. Perhaps it has to do with the assignment. With short deadlines, ding researchers in the country about the very analytical and cold approach you will not have the peace that is re- weapon technology. There was no way that FFI takes. I know of people who quired. Once bitten, twice shy, I would this could end well! Naturally, it went have quit out of frustration and anger. also add this advice: Seek to under- just fine. The FFI researchers were A year later, they have wanted to return. stand, before you ask to be understood". equally starstruck to meet the com- Most former FFI employees I meet, mander as he was to meet them. I have however, talk about their time here In terms of military technology, experienced similar reactions on sever- very fondly. At one point in time, I was the world is more complex than ever al occasions: All it takes is a call from us heading full speed for the exit, myself. I before. In what fields can FFI assert and the recipient is reporting for duty. was furious; at my boss, at inadequate itself? cooperation across the organisation, at "If we are to be a partner to those with Those who know FFI well, know that the system and the whole thing. Then, whom we are interested in collabora- researchers and management are re- I was told that it would be unwise to ting, we must continue to be a world

8 FFI 75 years 02

leader in carefully selected areas. There, at the civil sector, in areas where FFI we must have in-depth knowledge. has especially good prerequisites for involvement. Long-term planning, We are heading full speed in the with which we are now assisting the direction of a technologically bifur- judicial sector, is an example of a field cated world: China versus the West. that may grow". Not only the Norwegian Armed For- ces, but also the industry may face the Størdal has also been engaged in long- following choice: ‘Either you are with term planning in his private life. He us or against us’, as was the case in the was an active football coach for his discussions regarding the 5G expan- children, one girl and two boys, who are sion. This adjustment is challenging. now adults, in Snarøya Sports Club. I will miss all the The turmoil surrounding Huawei is only the beginning. This is potential- "I was involved from little league to the inspiring colleagues. ly a big issue, where we have to both junior level. I miss those times. When I First and foremost at give advice and understand. It will hit walk by the pitch today, I meet some of us long before we see it coming. Secre- those I coached, who are now between FFI, but also in the tary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg 25 and 30 years of age. They come over rest of the sector. has gone very far in making his views and greet me and say they remem- heard on this matter. It will be exciting ber how we used to do things. Several to see what Europe will do". of them still play football. That is certainly a good reward for the efforts". Will FFI exist 50 years from now? "Absolutely. There will be an even greater demand for knowledge and fact- As low-key a figure as you are at FFI, based support than there is now, especi- it is perhaps a bit difficult to picture ally in the area of technology. A future Størdal shouting from the sidelines? institute will continue to be based on "The whistle came in handy. Perhaps I military technology. However, I think should have had a whistle here, too?"  we will offer far more research directed

FFI 75 years 9 THIS IS FFI

The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) is the Norwegian Armed Forces’ central research institute whose objective is to conduct applied research and development in response to the needs of the defence sector. The institute is subordinate to the Ministry of Defence. FFI is one of Norway’s biggest research institutions, with operating income exceeding NOK 1 billion (2020).

11.04.1946

Our birthday! KJELLER, LILLESTRØM On page 14 you can read the story of how we came to be. 707 employees are currently working at FFI Kjeller.

THE RESEARCH

The research at FFI is divided into five divisions:

Defence Systems, KARLJOHANSVERN, HORTEN Strategic Analyses and Joint Systems, Sensor and Surveillance Systems, 64 employees are currently Innovation and Industrial Development working at FFI Karljohansvern, Horten. and Total Defence.

10 FFI 75 years FFI’s coat of arms with the heraldic royal crown was designed by herald and Major General Thorbjørn Bergersen and approved by King Olav V on 2 December 1989. The figure on the escutcheon shows a raised sword surrounded by an atom with electrons at either end. The visual design symbolises the institute’s scientific relationship with the Norwegian Armed Forces. The coat of arms was updated in December 2020.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

FFI conducts applied research and development that contributes to providing Norway with an effective and relevant defence, a secure society and a competitive 771 defence industry. The institute is involved in strengt- EMPLOYEES hening the Norwegian Armed Forces’ operational capability and NATO’s capabilities for collective defence. FFI enjoys extensive collaboration with close allies.

VISION 80 % FFI turns knowledge The research is 80 percent project funded. 20 percent are and ideas into an budgetary allocations. effective defence

FFI 75 years 11 FFI employees practicing emergency preparedness: A suspicious package is inspected. Photo: Christian Tandberg / FFI

12 FFI 75 years EVERYTHING IS TOP-SECRET, RIGHT?

Many associate the acronym FFI with closed doors and total secrecy. The reality is somewhat different.

Anyone who has visited FFI in Hor- FFI wants to show what the institute is Forces is that it is to operate based on ten or at Kjeller know that there are working on. News is published on social the presumption that another actor – its strict routines. You must be registe- media weekly. Open meetings and con- opponent – will make considerable ef- red at the reception and be escorted. ferences are an important part of the forts to ensure that we fail. This means Phones must be left outside the job, whether it concerns overarching that a single critical omission or meeting rooms. topics for the entire defence sector, or misjudgement in an operation may lead expert knowledge on drone piloting to a collapse of practically the entire FFI’s employees must have a security and 3D printing. organisation. clearance in order to be able to work ‘inside the fence’. When they tell people At the same time, balance is impor- The visible and invisible security where they work, some may receive tant. Although FFI employees are civ- measures at FFI are there for good the comment: ‘Wow! Everything is ilian staff, the institute is an important reason. However, there are equally top secret there, right? I won’t ask any part of the Norwegian Armed Forces. obvious reasons for freely communica- more questions’. In other words, many ting much of what happens at the insti- believe there is a parallel between e.g., "There are essential matters that can- tute. A top-secret research institute is the Norwegian Intelligence Service not be discussed publicly, and that con- unlikely to benefit Norway. The more and FFI, possibly that FFI always cern the work here at FFI", says Espen insight the rest of society has regarding works on ‘secret matters’. Skjelland, Director of Research at the activities at Kjeller and in Horten, the Department for Strategic Analyses and better".  A visit to the website ffi.no shows a Joint Systems. He elaborates: great desire for openness. The public should know what FFI is doing and, "These matters relate to political, stra- THE SECURITY ACT as long as a research report is not tegic and operational assessments re- The Act relating to protective security classified, it will be published in its garding various types of conflicts. It services regulates access to information entirety. goes to the heart of why we have a mil- that may harm the interests of Norway itary defence and what kind of defence or our allies, relationships with foreign Not even all defence staff are aware we require. We are exploring an un- powers or other vital security interests. that FFI is involved in EU projects, certain future involving a broad range Documents are subject to four levels of takes assignments from government of scenarios. We model and simulate security classification: agencies and is an industrial partner military operations with a consider- • Restricted • Confidential in non-military contexts. It is also able degree of detail, and, if necessary, • Secret important to communicate the insti- we use highly classified data. The uni- • Top Secret tute’s total defence efforts. que aspect for the Norwegian Armed

FFI 75 years 13 THE IDEA OF FFI Made in England

He was a chemistry professor and resistance figure. Already in the first year of the war, Leif Tronstad began thinking aloud about something the British had and that Norway was missing: military research.

It all began in England. The idea of a Norwegian military The Bærums-born Tronstad had started out as a chemist. technology research institute was raised already in 1941. He had studied in both Berlin and Cambridge. He was a The war was underway. The Germans were succeeding on professor at NTH. In the United Kingdom, he had become all fronts. One of the researchers who had fled to the United a known and well-respected name in the preceding decade. Kingdom, however, was certain: The end result would be This would come to benefit Norway. The Norwegian Govern- different. And the Norwegian Armed Forces would then re- ment-in-exile appointed Tronstad head of the Technical quire such an institution. Its establishment was essential. Committee in the Norwegian High Command (FOTU). Otherwise, the country would probably not be able to keep This was the precursor to FFI. FOTU’s goal was to recruit up with the accelerating development in the field of military Norwegian technologists and scientists for military research technology. in the United Kingdom. The Committee was to serve as the Norwegian Armed Forces’ High Command’s advisor on mili- The researcher behind this idea was Leif Tronstad. In tary-engineering matters. London, he was affiliated with the Norwegian High Command and held the rank of Major. He would become one of The core of FFI existed in the form of 30-40 Norwegian the most famous figures in the resistance. engineers with a Master of Science and scientists who worked at British research institutes. Very many of them became Tronstad had an important role in the Norwegian heavy part of the institute’s early research staff. water sabotage operation at Vemork in 1943. This was a plant that he had personally been involved in planning. Now, he The defence leadership in the Norway they had left behind had to plan its sabotage. Already in 1948, the operation be- did not prioritise science and technology development. In came the subject of a feature film, in the Norwegian-French the 1930s, there was no organised research in the Norwegian production Operation Swallow: The Battle for Heavy Water. Armed Forces, whatsoever. Older military leaders did not Hollywood tackled the operation in 1965 in The Heroes of think technological expertise should take precedence over Telemark with Kirk Douglas in a supporting role. The opera- traditional, professional military knowledge. However, if the tion also became a popular tele-vision series on Norwegian World War had proved anything, with the atomic bomb as public broadcaster NRK in 2015. the most terrifying example, it was that science and defence research had now become essential.

14 FFI 75 years The natural leader of the newly established FFI could well have been Leif Hans Larsen Tronstad. This would not be the case. He wanted to be in the field, rather than behind a desk. From late 1944, he led an expedition of Norwegian paratroopers from Linge's Company. They operated in the mountain ranges in Telemark. Barely two months before the end of the war, this ended in tragedy. In a mountain cottage near Møsvatn Lake in Telemark, Tronstad was killed in battle with Norwegian NS members, just weeks before his 42nd birthday.

The post-war period’s first Minister of Defence was also LEIF TRONSTAD a remarkable resistance figure: Milorg leader Jens Christian Leif Tronstad (1903–1945) was a key figure in planning and Hauge became an enthusiastic and important contributor to organising the Vemork operation. For these efforts, he was the establishment of FFI. bestowed with the Order of the British Empire. He was also part of organising surveillance of German officers in Norway. Among other The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment was things, this surveillance provided information regarding the German just an idea in Leif Tronstads mind in 1941. Five years later, production of V-1 flying bombs in Peenemünde. This information led to extensive bombing, which set back the production. It offered FFI had become a reality. Thanks to a group of young Nor- the British sorely needed breathing room. wegian researchers and engineers in the British war laboratories, the road had been paved for the scientific institution Leif Tronstads Plass (place) is found in downtown Sandvika, where of the Norwegian Armed Forces. It would become one of Nor- King Olav V unveiled a monolith on 8 May 1973. The war hero’s name way’s most important research institutes. In April 1946, the is found in several places: Leif Tronstads veg (road) is located in Trondheim and Professor Tronstads gate (street) is found in Rjukan. Storting unanimously adopted the historic decision.

Photo: Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum FFI was born. 

FFI 75 years 15

THE FIRST FUNDING Don’t you actually need a million?

A surprise awaited when Fredrik Møller arrived at the Ministry of Defence.

Norway 1946: There was a chronic shor- mined in the Norwegian High Command. tage of everything. There was a shortage Its precursor, the Technical Committee in of facilities and equipment for Norwegian the Norwegian High Command (FOTU) research. At the Norwegian Institute of had boldly requested approximately Technology (NTH) in Trondheim and in 600,000 in its first year. the scientific community in Bergen, resources were scarce. The newly established In the budget meeting, Major Lindbæk Norwegian Defence Research Establish- Larsen and Major Pettersen partici- ment received unexpected start-up aid. pated on behalf of the Norwegian High Command. Sverre Pettersen would subse- The first budget that was adopted was quently become FFI’s Assistant Director in the amount of NOK 1 million, with General. an additional starting grant of 300,000. Allocations in 1946 and 1947 jointly amo- Møller writes: unted to NOK 1.8 million. This is a large FREDRIK MØLLER sum when compared to the fact that the "They appear to fully agree on what poli- FFIs first Director General well-established NTH was allocated 2.3 1947–1957 cies they should have in relation to FFI. million over the same two-year period. The first question was: ‘Tell me, do you Master of Science in acoustical not need more?’ To which the response FFI’s first Director General Fredrik Møl- engineering. Møller had a leading role was: ‘Of course, more would be nice’. To ler personally recounted this situation, among the 40 researchers and engineers which Lindbæk Larsen enquired: ‘Don’t working in England during the war. explain historians Olav Njølstad and Photo: FFI you actually need a million?’ When the Olav Wicken in Kunnskap som våpen answer was given in the affirmative, Major (Knowledge as a weapon). Pettersen interrupted, stating: ‘If you want a million, you will have to ask for one and In the internal newsletter Mikroskopet a half’. And so, we requested one and a (The Microscope), Møller wrote about how half, and to our great surprise we were FFI was allocated its first budget, deter- granted one and a half". 

FFI 75 years 17 INTERVIEW / Chief of Defence Eirik Kristoffersen

THE CHIEF OF DEFENCE LENDS HIS EAR TO FFI

Chief of Defence Eirik Kristoffersen has no doubts: FFI plays a big part in what advice I give to the political leadership.

The General was appointed on 17 August How important is FFI for the Armed What topics and issues will be espe- 2020. He succeeded Admiral Haakon Forces today? cially important for Armed Forces Bruun-Hanssen, who retired after hav- "FFI is important for us. It is first and and FFI to collaborate on going ing served as Chief of Defence in the foremost through research that we forward? period 2013 to 2020. are able to further develop our Armed "The most important question for me Forces. At the same time, FFI plays is how the technology can contribute to The new Chief of Defence is very fam- a major role in what advice I give to the Armed Forces having an advantage iliar with FFI, including from the de- the political leadership, regarding the in peacetime, crisis and war". velopment of Forward Air Control Armed Forces we should have going and Navigation (FACNAV), the digital forward". Are there any research projects or command and control system created perspectives from FFI in which you for the Norwegian Armed Forces, and A few years ago, Commander of the have a particular interest or are the Black Hornet nano helicopter; a Norwegian Defence Staff, Vice Ad- curious about? drone that soldiers can use for recon- miral Elisabeth Natvig, said that "In the short term, it is research on how naissance purposes. ‘FFI’s task is to illuminate the futu- use of our new F-35 combat aircraft re’. Do you agree? can be maximised by the entire Armed How do you view the lengthy colla- "Yes, I agree. We are entirely dependent Forces. Furthermore, I am very inte- boration between the Armed Forces on research-based advice". rested in research on technological au- and FFI? tonomy, and how this can contribute to "This collaboration has been very From your personal experience: better equipping the Armed Forces". important for the development of When and how were you first in con- the Armed Forces. The result today tact with FFI? Is there any type of research or pro- is that we in Norway have a mod- "When I was part of the special forces, jects that the Armed Forced would ern defence. It has managed to conti- a close collaboration with FFI began in like to see more of? nuously adapt. Persistent adaptation earnest. Two specific examples where I "I find that we have close and good dia- based on sound knowledge is crucial in was directly involved were the develop- logue with FFI. Often it is challeng- order for the Armed Forces to remain ments of FACNAV and Black Hornet". ing to know something about what is relevant, also in the future". unknown. That is why international

18 FFI 75 years "The collaboration with FFI has been very important. The result today is that we in Norway have a modern defence", says Chief of Defence Eirik Kristoffersen. Photo: Torbjørn Kjosvold / Norwegian Armed Forces

This collaboration has been very important for the development of the Norwegian Armed Forces.

and national research collaboration nue to lag behind in the development of is so important. Precisely because it equipment adapted for women". can produce solutions none of us have thought of". Collaboration between the Norwe- gian Armed Forces, FFI and Nor- Research on soldiers’ lives, health wegian industry has been an impor- and welfare has always been key tant factor since the 1960s. What to FFI. Is there research in this are your expectations in this regard category that you would like to see for the coming years? more of? "I would have liked to see more re- "This triangular collaboration is cru- search on the materiel and logistical cial to achieve quick results. I have per- consequences of the fact that the pro- sonally experienced how good such a portion of women in the Armed Forces collaboration functions, precisely in is rapidly increasing. My assertion the development of FACNAV and Black is that much of the equipment we Hornet".  use operationally is first and foremost developed for men, and that we conti-

FFI 75 years 19 THIS MIX IS MAGICAL

I continue to be fascinated by the myths surrounding the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment – even as the institution is turning 75 years old. Photo: Technical Weekly Magazine Weekly Technical Photo:

We cannot escape the fact that FFI continues to be shrouded in polytechnic publication, we have always been interested in the myth. With a bit of imagination, this myth is easily transferrable to defence industry. To this day, FFI continues to be an important the universe of James Bond, MI6 and Q. New and ground-breaking source of news and content. It may seem a bit basic, but it has to inventions and weapons that make the battle against the enemy be acknowledged: Our readers simply love everything that goes cunning, secretive and, not least, ground-breaking. Cold war, bang, shoots or explodes. One story we have followed from the nuclear age, NATO, arms race and associated ingredients can beginning is the Penguin Project. The cruise missile that, following easily make the imagination run wild. decades of development, has become NSM and JSM, and that are now unconditional, international success stories. Those seeking to dispel the myths, are not exactly aided by the fact that one of the institute’s most important facilitators was The institute is exciting for Technical Weekly Magazine’s journalists. resistance figure and Norwegian Labour Party titan Jens Chr. Not only because of the history and myths, but also because FFI Hauge. The former head of Milorg served as Minister of Defence continues to perform important tasks in a small country that needs after the war and was a key figure in Norway joining NATO, and to stand strong, both independently and together with our allies. in the Norwegian Armed Forces and Norwegian defence industry We have also been impressed by FFI projects such as RIMFAX, the developing from nothing to international recognition. ground-penetrating radar, that has now arrived on Mars.

When Hauge finally stepped down as Minister of Defence in early FFI is important for Norway. We would argue that the nation has 1952, he handed over the keys to the office to his successor Nils received a lot in return for the resources that have been spent Langhelle. Included with these ‘keys’ was the code to the Minis- on the institute and its activities. Other nations – many of them ter’s enormous safe behind the office chair. A natural handover of much bigger than us – have to allocate far higher expenses to access to classified information. The problem for Langhelle was achieve the magical effect and mix to which FFI has contributed that the safe was empty. In the book Jens Chr. Hauge – Fullt og in the intersection between research, technology development helt (Fully explained) (2008), biographer Olav Njølstad writes that and industrial growth. Hauge had taken the documents home with him. To this day, we do not know the full extent of their contents. Perhaps secrets are Threats from sea, land and air have changed considerably. Cur- still out there regarding the establishment of FFI? rently, the cyber threat appears to be the most challenging, which presents itself as stealthy, undermining, varied, confusing and Hauge cultivated friendships with the two FFI Director Generals, potentially paralysing. It is good that we have an FFI that is also Fredrik Møller and Finn Lied, at the same time as he served as able to contribute to mapping digital threats and countermeasures Chairman of the Board for Raufoss Ammunisjonsfabrikker (ammu- going forward. Therefore, we believe FFI will continue to have its nition factories) and Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk (weapons factory) hands full in the next 75 years. This also bodes well for Norwegian – and negotiated major contracts regarding defence materiel with business. And for us at Technical Magazine Weekly. allies. This undoubtedly contributed to FFI becoming a significant contributor and force in the development of Norwegian defence Congratulations on the anniversary! industry. We continue to benefit from this position to this day. Jan M. Moberg, Editor-in-Chief and CEO, The precursor to Technical Weekly Magazine, Polyteknisk Tidsskrift Teknisk Ukeblad Media AS (Technical Weekly Magazine) (Polytechnic Journal), was founded in 1854. As the world’s oldest

20 FFI 75 years YOU ARE NAMMO’S THE SHORT WAY IS TECHNOLOGY SCOUTS THE BEST WAY

FFI is Nammo’s technology scouts in important areas. We have For us here at Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace (KDA), the enjoyed an extraordinarily close and good cooperation from close collaboration with FFI has been important for the de- the beginning, ever since Minister of Defence Jens Christian velopment of our high-tech systems. This particularly applies Hauge’s prioritising of key technological areas in the immedi- to missile activity. This began with the anti-submarine wea- ate post-war period. The cooperation has been characterised pon system Terne in the 1950s, continued with the anti-ship by both advanced research and practical solutions. Here, we missiles Penguin and the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), and most have many good examples of enterprising FFI researchers, recently the Joint Strike Missile (JSM). Terne and Penguin who have found incredibly many innovative ways of testing were especially key in transforming KDA from a mechanical products. The model according to which we work is that FFI’s weapons manufacturer into a company that is able to face researchers work on basic research and provide specialist the future with high-tech systems in many new fields. FFI, the expertise in this area, while we have engineers and research- Norwegian Armed Forces and the Norwegian Government, ers who look at the use of the technology and how it can be often referred to as Team Norway, has been crucial for KDA made into new products. and others in the Norwegian defence industry on the export market. FFI has been a client, driving force and sounding board both for Raufoss Ammunisjonsfabrikker and, later, the entire Nammo Many engineers and researchers have been following the system. For instance, in terms of ammunition, we have enjoyed development of FFI and onward to development or manu- close cooperation with FFI ever since the 60s. The first projects facturing at KDA. FFI’s competence through its employees is were M72 anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launchers and what makes the big difference. The institute is undoubtedly a multipurpose ammunition. In terms of rocket engines, the global leader in ground-breaking solutions and innovation. In roots date back to the 40s, and the very establishment of FFI. 1983, we established a department at Kjeller for collaboration This gained momentum in the mid-80s. Since then, we have and technology exchange, particularly in the area of missile also collaborated on rocket engine technology, through pro- seeker technology. grammes funded by the Ministry of Defence. Discontinued programmes have often become the start-up of new pro- Our meeting places are what make this collaboration so spe- grammes. cial. It is unique in an international context. Here, FFI, the industry and the Norwegian Armed Forces can sit and discuss Today, we are an international company that is influenced by future solutions needed by the Armed Forces. We have taken the developments on the global market, perhaps especially in advantage of the opportunities that are unique for a small the United States. However, FFI continues to be an important nation, with short decision paths, little bureaucracy and a high partner for us. The collaboration between Raufoss and, sub- level of trust. This generates good and productive dialogue. sequently, Nammo and FFI, also celebrates 75 years this year. In this manner, we are able to come up with modern and Such a long-term relationship is not easily replaced. advanced solutions at a low cost.

Morten Brandtzæg, Group CEO at Nammo Raufoss AS Eirik Lie, CEO of Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace

Photo: NAMMO Photo: KDA

VITEN / FFI 75 år 21 MARTE S. KALVELAND (39)

Research Manager

RESIDENCE Kjeller

EMPLOYED SINCE 2007

FIELD OF EXPERTISE Astrophysics

DIVISION Defence Systems Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI Wang-Naveen Espen Photo:

22 FFI 75 years Research Manager Marte S. Kalveland / PROFILE FEATURE

LEADERSHIP IS UNDERSTANDING

This was my first job after graduating tunities I would unlikely have been able from university. Now I have been here for to receive elsewhere. 13 years! I was told that FFI is an exciting place, and that there were opportunities to I have always had leadership ambitions. become involved in a lot of different things. During my studies, I led the Norwegian The good thing This has certainly been true in my case. section of an international organisation for technology students. Now I am one about astrophysicists My education played an important role: of more than 60 Research Managers at is that we are a bit The good thing about astrophysicists the institute. is that we are a bit like potatoes; we are like potatoes; we are versatile. Our profession has a toolbox Now, as FFI celebrates its 75th anni- versatile. that contains mathematics, physics and versary, the organisation is undergoing a programming. This allows us to work period of change. Our Board of Directors with very different tasks here at FFI, as would like more young people in leader- I have done. ship roles, which means that some older people need to step aside. At FFI, leaders One excellent incentive has been the have traditionally been recruited intern- opportunity to leave my desk now and ally, based on their skills as researchers. then. I have been on missions aboard both However, an interest in leadership is often Skjold-class corvette torpedo boats and just as important. Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates. Although much of the work involves experiments Currently, I am in charge of the re- and collection of test results, it is exciting search programme Kampstrukturer - luft to be aboard these modern vessels. (Combat Structures - Air), that includes two research projects: Air Force toward I have also sailed along the entire Nor- 2030, and what we refer to as the tactics wegian coast and participated in fleet project. Combat structures is a new and exercises in England. Another useful exciting field of research. It involves utili- experience was flying in various types of sing knowledge from the entire institute surveillance aircraft. FFI gives me oppor- and conveying it to the branches of defence

FFI 75 years 23 Joint operations are essential. The perspective is the Navy, the Air Force and the Army cannot fight each their own war. They must be able to collaborate.

in a useful and comprehensible manner. My favourite speaking engagements are have been accounted for. As a leader, Joint operations are essential. The per- in front of audiences who are genuinely I must ensure that the results are also spective is that the Navy, the Air Force interested in our results. When speaking comprehensible and relevant for the cli- and the Army cannot fight each their own with military personnel about tactical ent, and that they are delivered on time. war. They must be able to collaborate. calculations, we must make sure not to How can we manage this? sidetrack them by presenting all our My researchers are free to manage their equations. It is far more important to workday as they see fit for the assignments One of my most important tasks is to present the main points. they receive. Most people are driven by maintain close contact with leaders in the intrinsic motivation. It is easy to get rese- Air Force and meet with them regularly. The Norwegian Armed Forces is an archers to study and think clever thoughts We must understand the topics they are exciting and demanding client. They are about topics they are genuinely interested working on and coordinate research at accustomed to quick deliveries, with strict in. As a leader, I must follow up, take an FFI and issues in the Norwegian Armed deadlines. Therefore, it is perhaps not interest in their results, and ensure that Forces. My colleagues are responsible for surprising that they may become impa- the research is relevant for the client. the same tasks in relation to the Norwegian tient. Our presentations must have clear One of my most important tasks is to be Navy and Army. conclusions. It is more time consuming present and available for both parties. than many might think to go from pre- One my fellow students, Sunniva Rose, senting a PowerPoint to writing down Changes occur slowly. Our results may is a research communicator and blogger all the results. After the data has been not produce any effects for the Norwegian who inspires me a great deal. She recently collected, it may take several months to Armed Forces until years after we have published the book Vi er stjernestøv (We write a complete report. handed over our knowledge. I have to Are Stardust), naturally with a pink book show both patience and perseverance. If cover. Sunniva writes about everything I make no secret of the fact that research- you ask my family if I’m a patient person, you did not know you wanted to know ers enjoy calculating, investigating, eva- the answer would be no. But I have learned about nuclear physics. Like her, I prefer to luating and then re-calculating ad nau- that things take time.  present results without the use of jargon. seam. It is essential that all conditions

24 FFI 75 years 01 Norway’s new F-35 combat aircraft is an integral part of a more coordinated defence at sea, on land and in the air. Photo: Hedvig A. Halgunset / Norwegian Armed Forces

02 Personnel train for scenarios, including in simulators, where forces are operating in the same arena. Photo: Christian Tandberg / FFI

FFI 75 years 25 A damaged part is scanned. In a few hours, an identical component is produced, with 3D technology Photo: Fieldmade

26 FFI 75 years CAN SPARE PARTS FIT IN YOUR POCKET?

During wartime, faulty materiel must be replaced quickly. It is crucial for all military operations to maintain control over the supply chain. The battle may be lost if it takes too long to obtain spare parts. Ideally, production in the field would replace defective parts. This is why 3D printing is currently being studied in detail by FFI.

For FFI and the Norwegian Armed For- and stainless steel. It is also easy to pro- ces, 3D printing is about keeping up duce soft parts, such as gaskets. with technological developments. It is essential to look at the types of use that These products are just as good as those may arise. FFI’s Product Development, from traditional factories, and the qua- Testing and Verification (PTV) is where lity is identical. Our vision is that these these methods can be examined. microfactories will become so good that they render large storage units super- Rapid, local production would require fluous. a new type of logistics. In this case, it would be possible to avoid larger storage ‘Local’ is the key word for spare parts for of spare parts. Components can be re- future defence materials. For Christian placed immediately. FFI is collabora- Duun Norberg, this was the beginning ting with the Norwegian Armed Forces of something big. With the Fieldmade and suppliers to learn how this would company, the former officer’s goal is to work in practice. change the digital ecology for everyone who currently requires large storage FACTORY QUALITY units and demanding logistics. Not only Production of a spare part using 3D for the Norwegian Armed Forces, but Christian Duun Norberg’s idea behind the printing can take anything from a few also for larger companies, such as Equinor. company Fieldmade involves more than simply producing spare parts with the aid of 3D print- hours to a day or two, depending on size ing. The goal is to change the digital ecology for and material. Technically, it is possi- "The oil industry also requires solutions everyone who currently requires large storage ble to use polymers or various types of that can increase operational capability units and demanding logistics, including the Norwegian Armed Forces and Equinor. metals, such as aluminium, titanium and level of preparedness. We can offer Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI

FFI 75 years 27 A worn part can be copied and produced on-site, when needed, within a very short period. Photo: Fieldmade

on-site production laboratories. Basi- cally, we are able to digitalise clients’ spare parts storage. By extension, we can stop talking about ‘spare parts’. In a sense, you have your spare parts in your pocket, wherever you are".

A SPECIAL CONTAINER Top US military personnel showed a strong interest in one special personnel container during the 2018 NATO Physical storage requires space and exercise Trident Juncture. Inside of the container, called Nomad, they were able localisation, perhaps far away from to see how Fieldmade produced exact those who need the delivery. copies of damaged materiel. With high quality and in a short amount of time.

"Obtaining spare parts can take several days. Here, a damaged component can be 3D scanned. Missing pieces of the object are recreated. Alternatively, the component can be produced from the same data file as the original. Those who need the part can come and pick it up the next day", says Norberg.

28 FFI 75 years During the Trident Juncture exercise, Fieldmade’s project stirred great interest among the allied guests, not least among the United States Marine Corp. Photo: Fieldmade

The NTNU graduate and naval spe- facturing factories for defence purpo- Here, I found people with the same inte- cial operations commander states as ses. But this is now snowballing. rests. Thus, it became an exciting place follows: to work. We were a team of three or four FFI is at the forefront of this technology people who volunteered to work on this "During the NATO exercise, we demon- in Norway. This is why the institute has idea in addition to our actual assigned strated the two most important reasons also established cooperation with aca- projects. In a sense, we were educating why 3D printing is here to stay: Essen- demia and research institutions, both ourselves. This work materialised into tial components can be delivered quick- nationally and internationally. something that would otherwise have ly and require less storage. Remember: simply remained a good idea. Suddenly Physical storage requires space and FFI WANTS SPIN-OFF INDUSTRIES there were seven of us and the idea be- localisation, perhaps far away from Fieldmade is the type of spin-off in- came a separate project", says Norberg. those who need the delivery. Digital dustry that FFI wants. The company storage requires neither of these things". was established at Kjeller. The rese- He has no doubts about future pros- archers who participated were among pects. They are bright. Fieldmade does not view the company the driving forces. They contributed by as a microfactory. The future can be sending a project application to the "I have noticed a stronger interest in bigger than that. Fieldmade is an early Norwegian Research Council. During something that previously was not well representative for what is referred to as this phase, the name Fieldmade was understood. The world needs time to additive manufacturing (AM). proposed. This is a name that lite- mature. The Norwegian Armed Forces rally describes what it does. PTV at has to see the potential. The defence "This industry will have an enormous FFI was also key. Christian Duun industry is profiting from solutions that impact on the military supply chain and Norberg recruited people from this are available today. Now we can col- its operations. This is the near future", group to continue with the work. laborate on moving forward". says Norberg. So far, there has been little discussion about additive manu- "It was essential to collaborate with FFI.

FFI 75 years 29 The deep snow on the Hardanger Plateau was perfect for testing the Terne missiles. The shells could then be reused. Photo: FFI

30 FFI 75 years HOW THE PENGUIN LEARNED TO FLY

This is one of Norway's greatest technological accomplishments. How could a small institute get the Penguin anti-ship missile to fly?

It began with an entirely different sea made Norway the producing country for not good enough. Nevertheless, the Navy bird. The Terne (Tern) Project was the some of the world’s most advanced missiles. did receive an effective and reliable anti- first major undertaking at the Norwegian submarine system. Defence Research Establishment. This A BOOST FOR THE INDUSTRY was a weapon intended for the Navy. Terne Terne was the result of work that began A NICHE WAS CREATED weapons systems were developed to attack the year after FFI was established. Anti- The rest of Norwegian missile history, submarines. submarine weapons were a very high pri- however, has been tinged with success. ority for the Norwegian Armed Forces: In Following the Terne Project, both FFI and But first, a trip to the mountains. An old 1947, FFI was granted NOK five million, the industry were ready for bigger and more black-and-white photo in FFI’s archive the equivalent of more than 100 million advanced projects. This development is an shows a peculiar situation. The year is 1950. in 2021, to develop technical expertise example of a Norwegian niche, where FFI A group of young men are standing in the in the field. played a key role for several decades. Terne snow at Hallingskeid, in leisure clothing led to Penguin, which in turn led to the and sunglasses. It all resembles an Easter At the same time, the institute laid the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and the Joint ski trip. But the centre of the photo tells an foundation for major changes in Norwe- Strike Missile (JSM). Both systems were entirely different story. The men are wor- gian industry. This project was intended purchased by the United States and other king on a missile. What is actually going on? to propel Norway into the space age, no allies, as they were considered to be the best less. In order to produce Terne, Kongsberg missiles for their respective purposes. This This sunny photo is from the tests per- Weapons Factory had to undergo some contributed to a burden sharing among formed by FFI researchers. They were necessary changes. This was the beginning NATO members and increased operational testing an early version of Terne. The deep of the high-tech company, Kongsberg. capacities for the alliance. snow on the Hardanger Plateau had a clear The Terne Project was also important for advantage: It provided missiles without Raufoss Ammunition Factory, now known At the time, Terne had to prove that it was explosives with a soft landing. The shells as Nammo. This laid the foundation for possible to achieve good collaboration could therefore be reused. Over and over the company’s rocket engine production. across FFI’s divisions, between the insti- again. This made the tests cheaper to run. tute’s employees, between the professional Terne never became a commercial success. and operational military – and with the The Terne anti-submarine weapon system There were too few allies who showed industry. This was successful. The good was the first step in a development that an interest, perhaps because sales were collaboration made it possible to develop

FFI 75 years 31 2

Researchers Didrik Hveding and This photo from 1963 shows the very first Penguin missile, In 1968, the Penguin missile guided itself toward Olav Blichner at FFI’s supersonic Enok, on the launch ramp. Its aerodynamic design had the target five kilometres away – and hit it! wind tunnel in 1953. There were been tested in the wind tunnel, but this was the real deal. Researchers Tycho Jæger (left) and Olav Blichner major forces at work. were pleased with its success.

Penguin, a far more advanced anti-ship needed to arrive at a finished and saleable missile. Work on ‘the flying penguins’ could product become evident. FFI began using begin. Patient research and development calculators early on to make calculations in was essential: With the Norwegian Navy relation to nuclear physics, missile develop- as the driving force, the project began in ment, signal processing and operational Penguin was the earnest in 1961. This work became the analyses. This bore new and unexpected largest research and development project fruit. With the development of transistors, most advanced in Norway in the 60s and 70s. FFI began to build its own computers. missile the world This was essential, among other things, PARTS DID NOT EXIST for processing data from the Penguin tests. had ever seen. The Penguin is a guided tactical missile – As a result, Norsk Data was established by and the first missile was developed in its young FFI researchers in 1967. entirety at FFI. This project was characterised by bold ideas. It required extensive EIGHT SOLDER WOMEN resources. Researchers had to make use of A large number of people were involved. In the latest developments in the area – to the his book Flygende pingviner (Flying Pen- extent suitable technology existed. They guins), author Hans Christian Erlandsen often had ideas for solutions requiring lists the project staff for FFI in March 1965: components that had not yet been invented. • 37 researchers • 30 designers Penguin was the most advanced missile • 3 workers the world had ever seen. It included inno- • 8 lab/solder women vations such as an infrared detector, laser • 1 officer altimeter and an inertial navigation system. • 16 soldiers The most important components were created in the detector laboratories of FFI THERMAL RADIATION IN COMMON at Kjeller. This was an extensive process. In 1973, Kongsberg delivered the first Pen- In Norway, only FFI was able to master guin to the Norwegian Navy. Numerous the required technology. customers from other countries soon followed. Kongsberg Weapons Factory NORWEGIAN DATA WAS A FRUIT played an increasingly significant role in Diving deeper into history, the conditions the further development of the missile.

32 FFI 75 years Research Managers Øyvind Sjøvik (left) and Lars Trygve Heen hold the NSM was developed in Norway through a triangular collaboration between head of the anti-ship Naval Strike Missile (NSM), which has the capacity the Norwegian Armed Forces, the defence industry and FFI. Photo: FFI to attack enemy ships at distances far beyond the horizon. All photos: FFI Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace

If anyone wondered what an FFI Pen- Many of the ideas from NSM have been for certain platforms and weapons, such guin and the actual penguin bird had in included in the Joint Strike Missile (JSM). in the case of the JSM and the F-35. common, this question was answered by The Joint Strike Missile, produced by Director of Research Karl Holberg, often Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, is cur- Clients also need support systems for the referred to as the father of the Penguin rently the only cruise missile adapted to missiles, such as computer systems for missile. He stated dryly: "The only simi- the F-35 weapons bay, and can therefore planning and launching. Most purchase larity is that both navigate with the aid of be carried internally. In this manner, the packages that include training, operations, thermal radiation". aircraft can maintain its stealth capa- service and maintenance throughout the bilities, and remain difficult to detect. lifespan of the missile system. This can The expertise developed through the work generate major sales for the industry. on Penguin became a major advantage LARGE PACKAGES for the work on a new anti-ship missile, There is an uninterrupted link from the Now in 2021, FFI researchers are ready the Naval Strike Missile (NSM). FFI re- Terne missile in the snow at Hallingskeid to to take new steps. Their goal is to develop searchers contributed to this project as the missile in the weapons bay of the F-35. the missiles that will follow NSM and well. They developed the concepts for the JSM. The work will involve many FFI anti-ship missile in the late 1980s and de- NSM and JSM were both purchased by employees from several professional monstrated an entirely new imaging missile the United States and other allies because fields. Triangular collaboration will al- seeker. Since then, FFI has supported the they were the best missiles ever produced ways form the foundation. The ambition Norwegian Armed Forces by testing the in the West. The number of missiles sold is for Norway to continue to develop and missile and developing tactics for optimal to other countries is classified. The same manufacture important missile systems utilisation. They developed a significant applies to pricing. Typically, the number for the Norwegian Armed Forces and its component: target recognition, which is the of missiles will vary between fewer than allies, with the objective of significant eye of the missile. If this does not work, the a hundred for smaller clients to several value creation for Norwegian industry. seeker is blind, and nothing will function. hundred for bigger clients. One U.S. website has estimated the price of an NSM AGAINST ALL ODDS NSM surpasses its predecessor as it has as approximately USD 2 million. Clients It might not have turned out this way. The a very low radar signature. The missile purchase more than just one missile, how- final word is from Penguin biographer Hans manoeuvres even better and has a higher ever. If these are not already adapted to Christian Erlandsen: "When Norway’s first sensor capacity and computing power. a platform, for instance a vessel, truck or research and development project was NSM can fly low above the surface of the aircraft, it may cost up to several billion launched, it was probably too big an un- water and would therefore be hidden to Norwegian kroner for these adjustments dertaking for such a small country. Yet they enemies nearly all the way to the target. alone. For this reason, it is best to adapt were still successful, against all odds". 

FFI 75 years 33 Jan Olav Langseth took us on a tour of FFI’s collection of old research artefacts. The sign reads: Belongs to FFI Museum – must not be discarded. Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI

34 FFI 75 years WE HAVE A SECRET TREASURE TROVE

Jan Olav Langseth presents a large, rectangular box made of plywood. As he lifts the lid, he mutters, «I’ve never seen this before»

Then he exclaims, "There it is! This is what we’ve been looking for!" ODIN AND THE FISH A rack of shelves contains the very first Asdic, an echo sounder The FFI employee is beside himself with joy. At long last, a developed by FFI, that Simonsen Radio later produced under historical FFI object has been found. the brand name Simrad. This was the first industrial success based on an FFI invention. The fishing fleet began using this as "We have to exhibit this at the 75th anniversary!" early as 1948, with far better catches as a result. This apparatus is next to a control console for Odin, a fire support system for Langseth lifts up shiny, steel, streamlined parts. They are artillery from the 1960s. The name is written in Norse typeface. massively heavy. He needs both hands to lift them. He carefully places the shiny wings onto a camping table that someone A gramophone record peeks out on top of a stack of boxes. has left here. It has a grey slipcover with a hole in the middle, with a stone plate. This does not consist of an original recording of Jussi "This IS the wind tunnel model of the Penguin! But where is Björling or Vera Lynn. Yet it undoubtedly has historical value. the rest of the body?" The label states that this is a Norwegian Broadcasting recording of the first interview conducted at the newly opened radio THE MUSTY MUSEUM link connection between Bergen and Haugesund. It took place We are in what is referred to by FFI employees as the Mess. on 15 March 1951. This event was a milestone for one of the This is a large old German barrack. For many years, this building served as the mess hall for officers of the Norwegian Air Force Materiel Command. For the past ten years, it has been used as a lab for students, for testing drones and other types of flying objects.

At the back of the building there is a door that very few FFI employers are permitted to open. These storage rooms smell like any rarely used rooms: musty. Dust never asks for permission. Langseth sneezes as he picks out a few parts, lifts a couple of cardboard boxes and turns some containers upside down.

We find ourselves in the closest thing to an FFI museum. A large poster placed on top of the cardboard boxes tells us the exact same thing. In 1996, when FFI celebrated its 50th anni- In 1951, FFI opened the radio link connection between Bergen and Haugesund, versary, many of the objects here were taken out, polished up the first in the country. This event was presented by NRK, which also produced and exhibited. They were subsequently put back into storage. an album of the recording. Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI

FFI 75 years 35 01

01 Blunk was a pocket Geiger counter, in a rounded and handy design, developed by FFI for soldiers in the field.

02 A control console for the Odin artillery system next to what later became Simrad’s echo sounder for the fishing fleet.

03 Suddenly, Jan Olav Langseth found the Penguin model tested in the wind tunnel.

Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI

There is something poetic and reassuring about "1pc shock- and leak-proof shut-off valve for peacetime ventilation".

biggest and most important FFI projects during the first year "Stagkon and safirkon for Penguin seeker Mk2" sounds exotic. of the institute – to ensure better and more secure telephony The listed object "Samovar" may be just that. But it is impossible throughout Norway. to know for sure: Earlier FFI researchers were known for many imaginative names, such as the radar alert system Forglemmeiei Further down in the box are awards that Director of Research (Forget-Me-Not) and the never-developed aerial torpedo Sture Koch received for his work. It is clear that he has also Kråka (Crow) and the proximity fuse Engsmelle (Maiden’s tears). donated much of this material. Two FFI radiation indicators from around 1950 turn up – a type of pocket-sized Geiger counter. Here, the choice of name POETRY AT THE PEACE VENTILATION was apt: Blunk I (Blink 1). The contents of the cardboard boxes in this dust chamber varies between the exciting and the unfathomable: Here is a sing- NEXT THRILLER around velocimeter for seawater, dated 1947. In the same box is When historian Olav Njølstad had finished researching FFI’s a summing amplifier for the Tern missile’s analogue calculator. multifarious past, he found enough inspiration from the archives A memory card for the Martinus computer lies next to the box at Kjeller to write his thriller novel "Mannen med oksehjertet" for «control box for missile payload». (The Man with the Heart of a Bull). Anyone lacking a plot for a new thriller from the FFI environment can start with some- The list of all the museum objects at FFI is multifarious. thing previously untouched in this room: "1pc. unknown object: There is something poetically reassuring about "1pc shock- Wooden box with German writing". and leak-proof shut-off valve for peacetime ventilation". The same does not apply to "autoinjector and antidote for UNFAIR TREATMENT nerve gas poisoning". We note a "handmade core memory from Jan Olav Langseth was born in 1962. He has been working at FFI the mid-60s" and "Norway’s first self-developed inertial since the late 1980s. As a senior advisor for many years, he was platform, circa 1960". Skogens kamera (Forest camera) is the first person that FFI summer interns met, for instance at a listed, but it mentions neither the model nor the forest area. stand at the universities. He is likely the one non-pensioner at the institute who has the broadest overview of all the research Then we learn that it is in fact referring to a person: Erling and projects at FFI. Therefore, he knows a lot about what lies Skogen was responsible for the history booklets and the internal hidden around the various buildings at Kjeller, and, of course, exhibit displayed by FFI for its 50th anniversary. here. But not everything.

36 FFI 75 years 02

"Employees at the institute have been dutiful about docu- menting everything. We have always had photographers, so much of what the researchers have been working on has also been photographed. The physical objects themselves, however, have been somewhat unfairly treated. Much has been thrown out or destroyed. Many of the things that remain are unidentifiable. Many of the older FFI staff members still alive may know. The dream would be to gather some of these people together. Imagine if we could go through all these things", he says enthusiastically.

A RUSTY PIPE As he continues to talk, Jan Olav Langseth hunts for the rest of the wind tunnel penguin.

"This part is basically just a long pipe. Someone may have tossed it out into a container", he adds.

As I, a reporter for Viten, am about to take some pictures of some of the objects in the room, I have to step over a rusty object on the floor.

This looks like a pipe – but with some strange pieces on it?

"That is the pipe I’ve been looking for! In here, we can’t see the forest for the trees". Now we have a complete Penguin model to display!"  03

FFI 75 years 37 "HEY ARMED FORCES! I HAVE AN IDEA".

Now and then, researchers receive letters and questions out of the ordinary. Joakim (9) wondered whether we could help him build a new type of safety equipment for an aircraft. We were so impressed that we invited him to visit.

"Hey, Armed Forces! I have an idea. I hope you like it and that father, Tellef, and his grandfather, Bjørn Tore. He was allowed you’ll help me create a prototype. I don’t think it will cost that into a workshop where researchers and engineers are creating much". This is how Joakim (soon 10) begins his letter to FFI. prototypes and testing various things. They also visited FFI’s He presents an entirely new idea for how a jet aircraft can land battle lab, where Joakim got to try the F-35 flight simulator on water. This letter ended up on the table of Principal Scientist and tested a VR device used by fighter pilots during training. and aircraft nerd Stian Betten, who was immediately captivated. Joakim’s suggestion is a device that can be hooked onto a jet "I became interested in planes after my dad showed me a cool aircraft. You pull a rope that opens a hatch, and air is pressed plane video. And we’ve gone to airplane shows at Kjeller many into a flexible tube down to inflatable floats on each side of the times", says Joakim. wheels. This would help the jet aircraft land on water. He wants to become a designer or a pilot when he grows up but "Joakim has created a system. He has drawn a design for how has not quite made up his mind. this would work, and he has explained how the problem could be solved, as well as the advantages and how the system could "I wrote the letter for fun, but it was also a little serious. You make be controlled. This is impressive", says Betten. a lot of cool stuff, and I’m interested in security", says Joakim.

"I have checked around. I have never heard the suggestion for NORWAY NEEDS SMART PEOPLE using ram air to inflate floats. The only two patents I found The visit was probably just as fun for dad and granddad as for that may be somewhat similar are from 1964 and 1970. They Joakim. Both are engineers. Granddad also got his small aircraft were meant to keep satellites afloat in the water after landing. license at Kjeller. Principal Scientist Stian Betten encouraged Joakim has never seen this solution on YouTube or online. This Joakim to continue drawing, playing and thinking. is entirely his own idea. It’s cool!", says Betten. "Norway needs bright minds who can come up with smart A TRIP TO THE SIMULATOR solutions. We hope Joakim will return as a summer intern in a One Thursday, Joakim was invited to visit FFI together with his few years", says Betten. 

38 FFI 75 years Joakim had the chance to try the «world’s coolest video game», a simulator used by pilots while training to fly an F-35. The joystick is a copy of the control lever in the aircraft. This alone costs NOK 25,000. Aircraft researcher Stian Betten was his guide and instructor. Photo: Christian Tandberg / FFI

FFI 75 years 39 40 FFI 75 years FORCES UNITE Finn was the system builder

Finn Lied led the institute for 26 years, from 1957 to 1983. No one has had a greater impact on FFI than him.

Finn Lied, age six. The family had moved I started making my bed. People have to Mo i Rana two years earlier. This was laughed at me now, fifty years later, as before the ironworks period. His parents I walked around on Sundays picking up become good friends with the CEO of the rubbish from the lawns". forerunner, New Dunderland Iron Ore Company. His name was Claude Banna- Making his bed as a child and picking up tyne, from Scotland. rubbish from the lawns at FFI both relate with the same thing for Lien: diligence. During the visit, young Finn presented the Meccano crane he built. Meccano, which FFI WAS HIS GREATEST JOY was the Lego of that time, had beams, In 2012, the Norwegian Broadcasting wheels, axles, nuts, bolts and screws. Corporation NRK aired a series featu- FINN LIED ring eight distinct post-war personalities. Both the guest and Finn’s whole family, During the hour-long interview, the host including his two older sisters, thought FFIs second Director General asked: "What has given you the greatest 1957–1983 the crane was nice and big. Lied recalls joy in all your life’s work?" Bannatyne telling him: "You could be- Although he was classified as unfit for come a great engineer". But, added the active duty, Finn Lied was a soldier The answer was direct: Scotsman, young Lied needed to learn a involved in life-threatening service during the war. After the war, he became one of sense of order! Because the screws were "Without a doubt, that I managed to re- the country’s national strategists for not facing the same direction. They were both FFI and Statoil. organise and bring FFI together on large all supposed to be pointing with the head Photo: FFI and important projects. This became a out on both sides. pattern for how things could be done. I am happy I was able to be a part of this, "That sentence stuck with me. It taught together with several hundred motivated me a sense of order. From that point on, employees who showed trust in me. When

FFI 75 years 41 When the war ended, we had a very strong sense of duty to rebuild the nation.

the war ended, we had a very strong sense he mentioned an episode that became a cannot remember whether he was afraid, of duty to rebuild the nation". turning point for him. although the risk was extremely high.

A NATIONAL STRATEGIST Before the war, he built his own radios. Nor did it seem to bother the young stu- His directorship coincided with a large This was a hobby that he and his father dent that he had never been a soldier: share of the Cold War between the Soviet shared. Before the war, he was deemed unfit for Union and the United States. Norway was duty due to tuberculosis. Officers in the the most important NATO nation in the "I built crystal radio devices and listened Norwegian Armed Forces did not seem north. Yet it was not a traditional defence to distant stations such as Luxembourg, to care about this either. Lied was soon perspective that characterised his work. Hilversum and Daventry". appointed captain in the Norwegian Army. He was a builder of systems. Thus, he developed an interest in two- THE 40 IN ENGLAND The research institute became his most way radios: In 1942, he managed to get to England, important construction. This is something where he worked for the Norwegian he himself claimed. Lied could have poin- "I had heard about Diesen, the Telegraph High Command in the communications ted out many other things he managed Manager in Narvik. He communicated department. There, he became part of to accomplish: He was a national strate- with people in New Zealand!" the environment that would ultimately gist. He worked closely with Norwegian lead to FFI. Labour Party leaders Trygve Bratteli His interest in technology led him to and Jens Chr. Hauge on major national engineering studies in low current en- "We were 40 Norwegian engineers and projects. As a Minister of Industry, he be- gineering at the Norwegian Institute of scientists", he said in the NRK interview. came one of the architects behind Statoil. Technology (NTH) in Trondheim. When Norway became involved in the war in "Over time, the group began to discuss the When he became Director General for 1940, he was drawn into resistance efforts future after the war. In 1942, the Norwegian the first time in 1957, the 41-year-old through the student community in Trond- High Command Technical Committee was well acquainted with the research heim. He was forced to flee to Sweden (FOTU) was established. Its purpose institute. Among other things, he had in 1941. In Sweden, Lied was recruited was to assist the British by supplying served as Director of Research for by Norwegian and British intelligence Norwegian researchers and engineers for the Telecommunications Division services. His assignment was to smuggle their military research. FOTU was also since 1953. radio transmitters into Trøndelag. The given the task of assessing how Norwegian objective was to follow German fleet acti- military research would be structured RADIO BUILDER vity in the Trondheim Fjord, especially after the war. This assessment work led Finn Lien was born in Fana, south of around the battleship Tirpitz. to the establishment of the Norwegian Bergen, on 12 April 1916. His mother, Defence Research Establishment, with a Astri, was a pharmacist and his father These transmitters and their equipment core of FOTU researchers and engineers." Sigvald was a chemist. His parents had weighed more than 30 kilos. Lied had to a strong interest in social affairs, and his carry them on skis or by foot. He trans- Lied continues: father was known to have radical left- ported the transmitters from Storlien "When the war ended, we had a very wing views. During the NRK interview, in Sweden to Trondheim or Selbu. He strong sense of duty to rebuild the nation.

42 FFI 75 years HAUGE WAS RESPONSIBLE

Finn Lied and Jens Christian Hauge remained in close contact. "Hauge’s role at FFI cannot be overstated", says historian of ideas Rune Slagstad:

"With the appointment of Hauge as Minister of Defence in 1945, parts of Milorg’s network became linked to the labour party state. This was an enthusiastic group of research engineers, some of whom had experience with intelligence work during the war. Within a short time, by late autumn 1945, Hauge had established the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment. This was a professional body of expertise in Norwegian military industrialism that included Kongsberg Weapons Factory, Raufoss Ammunition Factory and the Navy’s Main Shipyard in Horten. Political party colours had little relevance in this environment.

Whether they were named Helmer Dahl, Gunnar Randers, Fredrik Møller or Finn Lied, all were in Hauge’s party, re- gardless of what party they voted for. The main issue was the modernisation of Norway by the knowledge industry". From Slagstad’s feature story in Aftenposten, the day before Hauge’s 90th birthday, 15 May 2005.

National strategists Finn Lied (left) and Jens Chr. Hauge, photographed in 1974. Photo: NTB

This was similar to Christian Michelsen’s recruited to FFI. Lied was engaged in statements in 1905. He talked about ‘the research in England in 1946 and 1947. new workday’. We saw what research and development could accomplish during In May 1946, the first five division direct- the war. ors were appointed. They were spread about the facility: Fredrik Møller with the We wanted to get in on the game. We Asdic Division in Horten, Gunnar Randers also saw that the development of defence with the Physics Division at Blindern in technology had a dual purpose, with both Oslo, Egil Ronæss with the Chemistry military and civil applications". Division in Trondheim, Helmer Dahl with the Radar Divison in Bergen, and Leiv Electrical engineer Fredrik Møller in Harang with the Telecommunications the London environment and the leader Division in Bergen. of the resistance movement, Jens Chr. Hauge were at the forefront. At the end of In 1947, Fredrik Møller was appointed the war, they were still young men. Lied FFI’s first Director General. The Director was 29, Hauge was 30 and Møller was 39. General’s office was located in Oslo. It "Møller was not a great scientist, but he was not until Lied’s time in office that did have a very dynamic personality. He FFI was gathered into two locations, and Hauge submitted the proposition to Horten and Kjeller. Kjeller had several the Storting", says Lied. buildings built by the Germans during the war. There were also five barracks GATHERED THE NATION AT KJELLER at Kjeller belonging to the Norwegian FFI was founded on 11 April 1946. That Air Force. Until this point, FFI’s secre- same year, Finn Lied graduated with a tariat and headquarters were located Master of Science from NTH. He was in Oslo.

FFI 75 years 43 It was said that Lied often ended the However, he agreed with Møller on one meetings in what was known as the significant point. Research Directors’ Council, by paraphra- sing Roman Senator Cato the Elder’s "He said we had to be judged on results famous sentence: "Furthermore, I con- that could be found in the bottom line of We competed with sider that Carthage must be destroyed". the companies that produced our equip- the best and beat Cato often ended his speeches in the ment. The institute should not only be senate in this fashion. Lied’s version was useful, it should also be economical. them in many areas. more positive: "Furthermore, I consider Møller left behind an image of FFI as that FFI should be gathered at Kjeller". something that sustained itself on results. This was a very different perspective than "Møller was not interested in moving. I that of the university". worked toward gathering an interdisci- plinary environment, with a size beyond A SMALL INSTITUTE FOR BIG THINGS the critical. I wanted to move out to the Lied expressed his own philosophy in countryside, where we could make noise the interview: and do things we could not otherwise do in a city or a university environment. It "I was enthralled by the thought that we took some time to gain acceptance. When would be a small institute for big things. I was offered the position as Director We would take on tasks that truly meant General, these were my conditions: We something and organise the work to en- would move to Kjeller. And the Minister sure a powerful establishment. We had of Defence at the time immediately said to prevent a stiff, divided and inflexible yes to construction of the joint adminis- organisation. We had to move the people tration building", said Lied. to the tasks.

44 FFI 75 years Akershus Castle was the backdrop for the celebration of FFI’s 30th anniversary in 1976. Finn Lied (left) and Minister of Defence Rolf Hansen on either side of King Olav V. Photo: FFI

This has been the credo of FFI. An in- MULTIPLIED GROWTH conducted at FFI, on the monitoring of stitute that is organised for work, not Finn Lied’s 26 years as Director General nuclear weapons testing and studies of departments for this and departments was a period of rapid development. The chemical weapons, respectively. for that. FFI was in this sense an extreme budget grew from well under NOK 10 mil- and flexible project organisation. We lion to well over 50 million. The number DATA POWER WAS NEEDED competed with the best and beat them of staff grew from around 300 to more FFI had a key role in a number of different in many areas. For instance, our first than 600. Kjeller became a technological computers in the early 1960s, which in proximity fuse." centre, as the Director General had hoped: turn led to the founding of Norsk Data FFI’s establishment budded into other re- and the computer division of Kongsberg Lied has not forgotten that politicians in search institutions. In 1948, the Institute Weapons Factory (KV). The first was the US Congress noted that the Norwe- for Nuclear Energy (IFA, and from 1980, LYDIA (1962), followed by SAM, SAM2 gian FFI had produced proximity fuses IFE, Institute for Energy Technology) and SAM3. for a mortar costing only USD 30,000. was established on the neighbouring lot, with Research Director Gunnar Randers Finn Lied’s mild-mannered exterior "The Americans had spent millions upon as its first Director General. might have fooled some people. But he millions trying to do the same thing. was part of some strong alliances. Along But we had some highly skilled engi- Televerket’s forskningsinstitutt (Norwe- with Fredrik Møller, who was the head neers. In an unbureaucratic manner, gian Telecommunications Administra- of Noratom from 1957, he provided Jens they utilised the new development of tion’s Research Institute) was established Chr. Hauge with competent advice and solid-state electronics. My good friend at Kjeller in 1967, with former FFI em- assessments. Frequently, the advice went and colleague, Christian Holm, went to ployee Nic Knudtzon as its Director Gene- beyond the usual ideas in the Norwegian the US and personally picked out the ral. Norwegian Seismic Array (NORSAR) Armed Forces and short-term conside- newest high frequency transistor. This was established at Kjeller in 1968 and the rations for profit in the defence industry. became the core of the mortar fuse. The Norwegian Institute for Air Research result was a production of millions of (NILU) followed in 1969. The basis for EXCESSIVE INFLUENCE? fuses at Kongsberg". both NORSAR and NILU was the research Although Lied never entirely managed

FFI 75 years 45 Finn Lied worked long days and weeks and demanded a lot of his employees.Photo: FFI

to bring FFI into the Norwegian Armed as awful. It is futile to try to change it". Forces in the form of a formal position in defence leadership, the insti- KEY IN ALL AREAS tute’s influence became so strong, When Finn Lied had an interlude as They were thankful that even he occasionally became Minister of Industry in the Bratteli Gov- for peace but not as concerned. When the important sys- ernment from March 1971 to October tem group at FFI celebrated its 10th 1972, he had already been successful pleased with the means anniversary in 1969, he said: in ensuring that FFI was a key actor in to obtain peace. security policies, defence policies and "We are often more afraid that we have industry policies. FFI became a model too much influence than that we have for similar research institutes in other too little. It could be dangerous if our countries that also wanted to develop analyses are used outside the area of national high-tech industries. their significance". Journalist Cathrine Sandnes inter- FFI had many international roles, espe- viewed Finn Lied for the journal Sam- cially for NATO and the United States. tiden in 2006 with the title Those who This cooperation could be cumbersome. built the country. The interview began When Research Director Henrik Nødtvedt as follows: "Einar Gerhardsen had the was about to take the position as Director people. Haakon Lie led the party. Jens of the NATO Undersea Research Centre Christian Hauge ensured security. And in Italy, he received the following message Finn Lied built the industry". from Lied: "You sometimes complain about our bureaucracy. The Americans WORK ADDICT are much worse, and NATO is ten times Lied was a work addict, with seven-day

46 FFI 75 years ONE OF THE BOYS

Finn Lied had two secretaries who worked in shifts, Elisabeth Garwick and Agnes Michelsen. But FFI photographer Bjørn Fremstad remembers Finn Lied as a down-to-earth Direc- tor General. He enjoyed chatting with the boys at the FFI workshops, and often sat with them at lunch. He also liked ‘walking meetings’ outdoors.

Similar to the walking and talking scenes you often see on TV series. He enjoyed discussing matters with a colleague while out walking.

He was on good terms with foreman Reidar Sørlie at the carpentry workshop. As a hobby carpenter, he also sometimes used workshop tools to build things for his cabin. Sørlie was concerned about Lied working on these things during weekends. The workshop contains planers and powerful saws, and the Director General was often alone in the workshop, without safety supervision.

The Director General in good company with FFI colleagues. Photo: FFI. Photo: FFI

work weeks. His diligence also made They also did a fair bit of carpentry. Furni- of the national strategists. The answer him somewhat of a pedant. He disliked ture, patios and stairs were constructed was direct: seeing pictures hung crookedly. Lied with exact precision, explained cabin would stand at the corner of the adminis- neighbour and newspaper editor, Per "Yes, I do. We were only concerned about tration building in the morning to see Brunvand. one thing. Not our salaries, not bonuses, when people arrived. If he felt that any- not money. We were focused on strengt- one was shirking, they were confronted MEANS OF PEACE hening Norway, on building the nation. at the office. For many years, he drove to After he retired from FFI in 1983, Lied Einar Gerhardsen listened to the weather work from his home at Skedsmokorset in continued to work for the Institute for report every morning. Why? Because a Volvo Amazon with a vinyl interior roof. Energy Technology – FFI’s closest neigh- he hoped the farmers would have de- That was considered exclusive. bour at Kjeller – until he was well over cent weather for the harvest. When FFI 90 years old. was established, many people believed Lied’s sanctuaries were his cabins. The we were spoiling science by using our first was in Hurdal and the second in Finn Lied spent the last few months of knowledge for what they referred to as Hedalen in Valdres. His neighbours near his life at Sørum nursing home. He died ‘violent purposes’. They were thankful the cabins noted that his reading material on 10 October 2014, at the age of 98. for peace but not as pleased with the was not the usual crime novels. Instead, means to obtain peace".  he read thick books about Albert Ein- In an obituary in Aftenposten, Jonas stein’s theory of relativity or literature Gahr Støre, head of the Labour Party, containing complicated equations. The highlighted his career at FFI: "He wor- same neighbours sometimes had to chase ked for progress through knowledge and away sheep from the cabin areas. They science". would then discover Finn Lied and his partner Inger Hattrem in the midst of In an NRK interview, Kjell Pihlstrøm the flock, hand-feeding the sheep. asked Lied if he viewed himself as one

FFI 75 years 47 FFI DIRECTOR GENERALS

Fredrik Møller Finn Lied Erik Klippenberg Director General from 1947 til 1957 Director General from 1957 til 1983 Director General from 1983 til 1993

Fredrik Christian With Møller (1906–1971) Finn Lied (1916–2014) grew up in Fana. Erik Klippenberg (1926–2018) was a was born in Fredrikstad. The Master He spent some of his childhood in Mo Master of Science graduate from Dan- of Science graduate with a specialisa- i Rana and Trondheim. Lied completed marks Tekniske Højskole (Denmark’s tion in acoustics became FFI’s first Dire- upper secondary school at Trondheim Technical University) and was a Visi- ctor General. He ran his company, A/S Cathedral School in 1936. ting Fellow with the Department of Akustik, until war broke out in 1940. He Electrical Engineering and Department was one of the researchers and engine- Lied graduated from NTH in 1946 with a of Physics at Massachusetts Institute ers that fled to the United Kingdom and Master of Science and he continued his of Technology (MIT) in the United Sta- worked for the Norwegian Armed For- studies in the United Kingdom. He ser- tes. He was a fellow and researcher at ces. From 1942 to 1945, he was a mem- ved as Director of Research at the Nor- FFI from 1951 to 1956, after which he ber of the Norwegian High Command wegian Defence Research Establish- was Head of the Operational Research Technical Committee (FOTU). At FFI, ment (FFI) from 1953, and as Director Division at the SHAPE Technical Centre he contributed to the development of General from 1957, until he retired in in Haag. transducers for echo sounders, inten- 1983. He was the Minister of Industry ded for Norwegian production. These during Trygve Bratteli’s first govern- He served as Director of Research at were finally commercialised by Willy ment from 1971 to 1972 and was Chair- FFI’s Operational and Systems Analysis Simonsen at Simrad (1949). Møller ser- man of the Board at Statoil from 1974 Division from 1959 to 1979, before be- ved as Director General of the Norwe- to 1984. He also served as Chairman of coming the Director of SHAPE in 1979. gian Defence Research Establishment the Board of the Institute for Nuclear From 1960 to 1967, he was a Chairman from 1947 to 1957. Energy from 1960 to 1969 and 1978 to and member of the NATO Council for 1985. Operations Analysis. In 1983, he became FFI’s first electronic computer, Frederic, Director General of FFI, a position one of the most powerful computers of Among many other posts, he also he held for ten years. He was also a the time, was named after Møller. After served as Chairman of the Executive member of the Norwegian Defence FFI, he was in charge of NATO’s SHAPE Committee for the Royal Norwegian Commission from 1974 to 1978. Forward Scatter Branch in Paris. Møller Council for Scientific and Industrial was Chairman of the Board for Kongs- Research (NTNF) from 1973 to 1979, berg Weapons Factory, Raufoss Am- following his membership in the Exe- munitions Factory and the Navy’s Main cutive Committee from 1962 to 1971. Shipyard and was also a key member of Jens Christian Hauge’s circle. Hauge See also page 40. was eager to use research and technology to create new industry.

48 FFI 75 years FFI DIRECTOR GENERALS

Nils Holme Paul Narum John-Mikal Størdal Director General from 1993 til 2001 Director General from 2002 til 2012 Director General from 2012 til 2021

Nils Holme (born in 1936 in Oslo, raised From 1976, Paul Narum (1951–2017) John-Mikal Størdal (born in 1965) is in Trondheim) is a Master of Science worked as a researcher, Director of from Hardanger. He has been working graduate from the Norwegian Institu- Research and Division Director at FFI. at FFI since 1989. Here, he has worked te of Technology (1961) with a degree He was also Director General of the as a researcher, Director of Research in technical physics and attended the Institute for ten years, from 2002. Paul and director of various FFI divisions. Norwegian Defence University College. Narum was a Master of Science gra- John-Mikal Størdal became Director duate with a degree in physical elec- General in 2012. Størdal has a back- Holme’s professional background is tronics from NTH in 1975 and a PhD ground in professional fields of system primarily from the Norwegian Defen- in technology from NTH in 1989. As a architecture, navigation, underwa- ce Research Establishment. He was researcher, he participated in the deter warfare, and combat and guided employed by other organisations, velopment of an infrared camera for fire control systems. Størdal holds a including a three-year stint at SHAPE use in the Norwegian Armed Forces, Master of Science in aeronautics and Technical Center in the Netherlands, and he conducted studies of coun- astronautics from the Massachusetts two years at Norconsult in Saudi Ara- termeasures against electro-optical Institute of Technology (MIT) in Uni- bia, and two years with the Norwegian sensors. This gave him additional in- ted States and a Master of Science in Ministry of Foreign Affairs. sight into military operations. cybernetics from the Norwegian Insti- tute of Technology (NTH). He has also been associated with the He became a Director of Research in think tank Civita. Holme was the Chair 1987 and from 1996 to 2001 he was the He has also completed the senior exe- of the Polytechnic Society (1997–1999) head of the FFI Electronics Division. He cutive course at the Norwegian Defence and the NATO Research and Techno- was a driving force in the development University College. In 2021, Størdal logy Board (2000–2003). He was a and production of the homing device will step down as Director General of member of the Norwegian Academy of and other critical components for FFI. He will then assume the position as Technological Sciences. the new naval strike missile in Norway. Director General of NATO’s Collaboration (See also page 30). Support Office (CSO), which is part In 2021, Holme continues to be active of the defence alliance’s Science and in public debate. In 2013, he wrote the As Director General, Paul Narum re- Technology Organization. CSO is tasked report 'Forsvarspolitikken ved et vei- structured the institute, with internal with strengthening research and de- skille' (Defence policy at a crossroads), lines of responsibility that more clear- velopment of defence technology in published by Civita. ly reflected the military branches and NATO’s member states. the Norwegian Armed Forces’ central support bodies.

FFI 75 years 49 PROFILE FEATURE / Security Advisor for Emergency Preparedness, Thea Eide Høyesen

WE MUST BE PREPARED

I work with security and emergency FFI has a good security system in place of security. For instance, FFI has 24-hour preparedness. My colleagues and I work for those who are travelling. Did you know, services for emergency services, civil to ensure that FFI is prepared for un- for instance, that you should never stay emergency preparedness actors and the wanted incidents here at the institute. below the second floor of a hotel and no Norwegian Armed Forces at FFI’s CBRNE What happens if there is an accident at higher than the seventh floor? The first is emergency preparedness laboratory. They one of our laboratories? How do we act to avoid being directly affected by riots and can be contacted in the event of incidents in the event one of our colleagues are similar at the ground level and the other where there is suspicion of toxic chemicals, kidnapped while travelling? In March is for reasons of possible evacuation, e.g., pathogenic microorganisms, radioactive 2020, an event arose that resulted in an in the case of fire. materials and explosives. emergency staff meeting at FFI. Since the end of February, we had seen that the My master’s thesis concerned the re- I am now in charge of the project ‘Overar- contours of the novel coronavirus could lationship between risk perception and ching Risk and Vulnerability Analysis for become problematic. The pandemic is vulnerability. I came to FFI after working FFI’, which will be completed during the an example of a sudden event that can as an advisor for the emergency prepa- first half of 2021. This is an exciting job. directly affect our work here. redness staff for the County Governor of The report will tell us something about Oslo and Akershus. FFI has given me the the required scope of our emergency pre- This escalated during the winter opportunity to engage in practical work re- paredness moving forward. holidays. Many employees at FFI were lating to my studies. As part of the defence out travelling. We relied on having people sector, there are certain requirements for When I am not working on interesting report to us regarding foreign travel and security and emergency preparedness at challenges at FFI, or enjoying urban life symptoms. Several FFI employees were FFI. We must have underlying plans for in Oslo, I am most content taking slow quarantined. For a while, we held two the emergency preparedness system for trips at sea at home in Southern Norway. emergency staff meetings a day. Only a the defence sector and we must conduct For safety’s sake, I do this in a refurbished handful of employees tested positive for and participate in exercises. We must also lifeboat. I am not the typical adrenaline COVID-19. Fortunately, we were spared a have plans for emergency preparedness junkie. massive outbreak during the acute stage. and crisis management. We must also have an overview of the resources we can We have asked employees to inform offer in a situation where there may be a us of any questions or issues. If you need for FFI’s expertise. are employed at FFI, you must be aware that you may be of interest to others. We We work closely with the rest of the cannot be blind to suspicious contact or institute. Here, we have access to know- I am not the typical surveillance of our conversations, for ledge that provides useful input for those instance, when riding the Metro. We also of us working with security and emergency adrenaline junkie. know that several FFI employees have preparedness. We have some of the coun- been contacted at seminars and on travels. try's foremost experts in various aspects

50 FFI 75 years THEA EIDE HØYESEN (24)

Security Advisor, Emergency Preparedness

RESIDENCE Oslo

EMPLOYED SINCE 2018

FIELD OF EXPERTISE Societal security

DIVISION Strategic development and corporate governance Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI Wang-Naveen Espen Photo:

FFI 75 years 51 CAN AN INSTITUTE HAVE SOUL?

This was not what they had been looking for. But perhaps historians Olav Wicken and Olav Njølstad were on the path to find FFI’s soul.

It is a thick book. Kunnskap som våpen General Olav Riste at IFS, popped into OFFSHOOTS (Knowledge as a Weapon) is more than five their office. He asked if they would con- FFI offshoots such as the Norwegian Tele- hundred pages in length and delves deep sider taking on the task of writing the communications Administration's Re- into FFI’s history, from its early days in history of FFI. Someone at Kjeller had search Institute and the Institute for Energy England during the war and up until 1975. mentioned them, although the authors Technology (IFE) were also given their The two Olavs cannot recall exactly when cannot recall whom. own history books. It was Njølstad who they started on the book. However, by wrote the latter book: Strålende forskning the time this work of history was publis- Institution histories were prevalent in the (Brilliant Research). There is also a great hed in 1997, loaded with footnotes, they 1990s. There were a rush of publications: deal of FFI history in the current Nor- had spent between two and three years Hydro had marked its centennial. The wegian Nobel Institute Director’s major on the process. Neither believe it was a history of the Norwegian Armed Forces biography, Jens Chr. Hauge: fullt og helt coincidence that they were assigned the was published during the same period. The (2008). Resistance leader and Labour project. Both Wicken and Njølstad wor- Norwegian Intelligence Service did the Party titan Hauge was an exceptionally ked for the Institute for Defence Studies same. The history of Norwegian foreign important individual in the establishment (IFS). They certainly had the professional policy was published during this period, of both FFI and its Kjeller neighbour, IFE. qualifications. in six volumes. Olav Njølstad has also written the bio- Both agree that they probably started the Another clear trend was the choice of graphy of Leif Tronstad, who could have project on the day a third Olav, Director academic historians as authors. become FFI’s first Director General:

52 FFI 75 years Historians Olav Wicken (left) and Olav Njølstad wrote the book Kunnskap som våpen (Knowledge as a Weapon), the story of how FFI was established and its development up until 1975. Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI

Professor Tronstads krig (Professor Tron- The thriller was published through the stad’s War): 9 April 1940 – 11 March 1945. book club Krim & Spenning (Crime & On this day in March, near the end of Thrillers) in 2002. It is virtually begging WWII, he was killed in a clash with Nor- to become a film. wegian NS combatants. NORWAY AS A NUCLEAR POWER We must add that Olav Njølstad’s love of The reality is perhaps just as exciting, writing has not been limited to academic according to Kunnskap som våpen: As- literature. What he saw and found in the trophysicist Gunnar Randers believed archives of FFI and IFE provided him with that Norway would become a nuclear the material to write his thriller, Mannen power and that FFI would be decisive in med oksehjertet (The Man with the Bull`s this achievement. Randers was one of the Heart). A common thread in the novel researchers from the exile community in is the nuclear threat of the Norwegian the United States and England during the post-war period. war. He was later known in the media as ‘Nuclear Randers’. He has been honoured The story begins with Doctor Ulla Abild- by something that is currently not shared The book, Kunnskap som våpen (Knowledge as a Weapon) covers the sø from Finnmark, who was affected by by the other pioneers around FFI: The period from 1946 to 1975, and was radiation. She flies to Oslo, searching for road to the west of the institute at Kjeller published in 1997. the truth about what actually happened bears his name. on her father’s fishing boat on one fateful October day in the North Sea in 1961. In 1946, Gunnar Randers and Director The level of tension and accurate details General Fredrik Møller had begun dis- are every bit as exciting as that found in cussing developing nuclear weapons at books by John le Carré and Jon Michelet. FFI. The work itself was never initiated.

FFI 75 years 53 However, Randers made sure that Norway Hauge was one of them. Many viewed "It was interesting. The archives were not would become a nuclear nation, albeit the development of nuclear energy as well organised. There were a lot of things with a civil purpose. Jens Chr. Hauge was ‘energy problem solved’. laying around, and it was hard work to heavily involved and was a good source of find what we needed. Fortunately, we had information when the early FFI history It is still fascinating, that Norway, of good help from the Archive Manager, Knut was being written. all countries, was a pioneer in the field Takla, and the core staff, with Director of nuclear energy, with all the hydro- General Nils Holme at the lead." "He was only 30 years old when he took power we already had! Equally astound- office in 1945. Thus, he became Norway’s ing was how natural it was for some of The historians were also assisted by youngest Minister of Defence. We had these people to say that ‘here we must former Director Generals Finn Lied and many interviews with him. Jens Chr. simply invest’. Hauge magically produ- Erik Klippenberg, and retired Director of Hauge was a strong admirer of FFI and ced NOK 5 million for the first nuclear Research, Karl Holberg. very proud that he had contributed to the reactor from an entirely different item in establishment of the institute." the defence budget. In the book, we call Much of what is written in the books was it ‘Hauge’s wedding gift for nuclear re- clearly confidential material during this Can what happened during the initial search’. The sum was the equivalent of period. Nevertheless, Njølstad and Wicken FFI years be viewed as a combination five 1946-budgets for all of FFI. Once it did not encounter any obstacles during of strong technological optimism and became clear that the work would not in- their work, although some of the code na- even stronger personalities? volve weapons development, Randers left mes in ongoing projects had to be redacted. "It is no longer possible for someone FFI to develop the Institute for Nuclear to fill the role these key persons had Energy (IFA), on the lot neighbouring FFI." Neither of them had a professional military during the first five post-war years. It background, nor did they have industry was a unique period. Hauge describes SEARCH OF THE ARCHIVES experience. Yet they were able to convey Randers as a ‘czar’. There was plenty of The historians spent much of their time complicated topics from FFI in a highly room for this type of person. Naturally, at Kjeller. accessible manner.

54 FFI 75 years The institute forms part of the idea of transforming Norway into a more modern society.

Njølstad did much of the work on the "These new conditions were built on three nuclear projects and perspectives on alli- different factors. The first was that large ances. Wicken concentrated on industry parts of the political environment had development and the role of the Armed developed an entirely different attitude Forces in the industrialisation processes, toward the Norwegian Armed Forces than especially those that involve high tech before WWII. The second was the expe- matters. riences of those who had served during the war: They had seen the necessity of For many years, FFI has been researching countermeasures against nerve gas agents. THE THREE NEW CONDITIONS having allies. The third factor was the This photo was taken in FFI’s Neuro- You place a strong emphasis on Finn clear importance of military technology biological Laboratory in 1974. Photo: FFI Lied’s role. Why? for the outcome of World War II". "In many ways, he personified FFI’s strengths. This was because he was a How did you experience the conver- leader within the research policy and sations you had with Finn Lied, who industrial policy establishments. He was viewed FFI as the most important part even appointed Minister of Industry. He of his life work? linked these two arenas to defence policy. "He was one of the most impressive In doing so, he became an important actor. people we have ever met. Not only was This has meant a great deal for FFI". he knowledgeable, but he also had deep insight. Lied had perspectives on almost If Lied had not become Director everything. There were also many stories General in 1957 and continued for 26 about him and how detail-oriented he years, what would FFI have become? could be. We knew, for instance, that he "This takes us into the realm of counter- was very displeased when people arrived factual history. FFI would not have been late for meetings. So, we made sure we the same, that is for sure. Lied was clearly arrived on time!" a person who shaped the institute. But this was not merely about individuals. It was PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER also about an era that allowed for such an FFI is a part of the post-war defence policy. institution to be established." The institute specialises in answering the question: ‘How should a modern armed "It is striking how unique the initial post-war forces act and look?’ This also involves period was and how much it differed from a much broader area. FFI is part of a the interwar period. Framework conditions modernisation period. The institute forms for FFI were not in place prior to WWII. Af- part of the idea of transforming Norway ter the war, they were extremely apparent." into a more modern society.

FFI 75 years 55 This research had a bottom-up approach. A great deal happened at the technological level. This model worked well, in many ways. However, the organisation as a whole had no direction.

Politically, there was a strong focus on "There was a clear before-and-after pic- The United States must have appre- developing the Norwegian economy after ture. FFI had already completed major ciated the research delivered by FFI: World War II. FFI provided some of the projects. ASDIC was further developed After all, they were not sending money new technologies required to create a and put into production through Simonsen just to be nice? more forward-looking industry in Norway. Radio (Simrad). This resulted in a major "Indeed, they wanted something in return. Sweden, the United Kingdom and the product for the fishing fleet. The micro- This was a trade-off. We write about this United States served as models". wave project led to the founding of Nera in in the book. You will not receive more Bergen. Yet it was the Terne Project that than you are able to offer. FFI’s Bridge In the book, it is surprising to read drew the organisation together. This was Project is one such example. This related FFI’s strong, initial emphasis on ad- part of the development of a port defence to submarine detection systems and was vising the Norwegian Armed Forces system. Many processes were initiated." an interesting part of geopolitics and to think less in terms of strategy and alliance building". more in terms of flexibility. You men- American funding was important. FFI tion several examples of researchers underwent restructuring. The institute FFI THE INNOVATOR brimming with ideas outside their appointed division directors and dire- The triangular collaboration between actual area of study and many of these ctors of research. They were part of the FFI, the Norwegian Armed Forces and ideas were carried forward? hierarchy with a strong core staff. This Norwegian industry is today an important "Before Finn Lied became Director Gene- staff governed the processes based on a element for all parties. The two historians ral, FFI was a very open organisation. top-down approach. Njølstad points out have studied the background history and The environment was a result of what the that it was this restructuring process that its unique aspects. researchers and management brought led to Finn Lied’s motto: ‘FFI shall be a from the United Kingdom during the small institute for big tasks’. "High-tech industrial development chal- war. FFI had no real senior management. lenged the old norms. Liberal ideology Director General Fredrik Møller was "This had now become possible. During dictates that there should be a divide viewed as an equal. Based on this model, this period, in the late 1950s, FFI received between business and public administra- research directors determined the course significant economic support from NATO tion: The government should be neutral of their own projects. This research had a and, not least, the United States. During in relation to special economic interests. bottom-up approach. A great deal happe- some of these years, more than half of the ned at the technological level. This model budget was financed by external sour- During the Borten Government, a member worked well, in many ways. However, the ces. FFI was given new opportunities to of Høyre (Norwegian Conservative Par- organisation as a whole had no direction". concentrate on larger, more demanding ty), was appointed Minister of Defence: projects. This funding offered far greater Otto Grieg Tidemand. It was during his THE GREAT CHANGE predictability than a small institute would time in office that a procurement policy Historians see a significant change at the otherwise have had, in an international emerged, which Finn Lied at FFI likely beginning of the 1960s. context". pushed to implement. New regulations

56 FFI 75 years At school in 1946. Researcher Ole Fredrik Harbek instructs engineers in tube theory at the Horten department. Three years later, FFI established a business school, that was in operation for 45 years. Photo: FFI

were introduced where the public sector’s vice versa: That FFI staff worked at the "Let us be audacious enough to say that it role was to establish the necessary links. companies for shorter or longer periods". deserved more readers! However, those In this manner, an entirely new political who did read the book gave us positive economy was formed. It dictated that WHALE BLUBBER NAPALM WAS A HIT feedback. I remember Aftenposten wri- ‘we must work closely together’. This Wicken and Njølstad are hesitant to ting a fairly long article on what we wrote is an entirely different framework and comment on FFI’s history after 1975, which about spermal, napalm based on whale perspective regarding how such processes is the last year included in the book Kunn- blubber, developed by FFI. Complete with should ensue. skap som våpen (Knowledge as a Weapon). a caricature". 

This triangular collaboration later be- "Other historians should be hired soon Learn more about spermal on page 82. came part of a larger industrial policy to describe the next period of FFI", they system. FFI had a key role here. When say, with a laugh. the Thulin Committee in 1980 looked at how research could contribute to indus- However, Norwegian Nobel Institute trial development, they obtained expert Director Njølstad has had lecturers from statements from the British specialist FFI`s research program on terrorism community, the Science Policy Research (TERRA) visiting the institute. Unit (SPRU). They were among the first to begin working on innovation research. "Establishing this programme was a pres- SPRU realised that if there was one place cient move", he states. in Norway where modern innovation policies could be introduced, it was FFI. When the book was published in 1997, the year after the 50th anniversary, all It was especially important for personnel employees at FFI received a copy. But from the companies to work at FFI and it never became a best seller?

FFI 75 years 57 Photo: Christian Tandberg / FFI MINESWEEPING WITH HUGIN

How to find and remove mines along the Norwegian coastline? FFI, Kongsberg and the Norwegian Armed Forces are developing an unmanned system for minesweeping. The crew can run the whole operation at a safe distance.

"Thanks to modern technology, we no will play a key role in the Norwegian The industry, Norwegian Armed Forces longer need to put people in harm’s way anti-mine concept, by mapping coastal and FFI researchers have been collabo- to perform this work. This is actually a areas and performing minesweeping. rating closely. no-brainer", says Research Manager Morten Nakjem at FFI. WORKS AUTONOMOUSLY "This triangular collaboration enables The sum of more data power, artificial us to find a solution that costs less, He is standing on the deck of the KNM intelligence and new battery techno- works better, and is ready faster", says Rauma. The minesweeper is one of logy means that unmanned vessels have Research Manager Morten Nakjem at three owned by the Norwegian Armed become more autonomous and have FFI. Forces. Such ships do a sweep. The greater endurance. sweep triggers mines to detonate. Soon THE FUTURE IS MODULAR these ships will be taken out of ope- Hugin can steer itself when mapping The system was built by civil techno- ration. In their place, unmanned boats an area. It has advanced algorithms logy. It consists of modules that can be and submarines will be clearing mined that enables it to automatically recog- put together as needed. This makes it waters. The crew can run the whole ope- nise mines from photos it takes of the less expensive and more flexible for the ration at a safe distance. seabed. Norwegian Armed Forces.

STARTED IN THE 70S If the submarines detect possible mines, The Hugin submarines are in use off- Keeping the coastline free from mines is one can dispatch an unmanned surface shore, among other places, to monitor vital work, for instance, when accepting vessel (USV) with disposable weapons Norwegian pipes on the seabed. In the assistance from allies during a crisis or to neutralise the mines. If the conditi- event of a crisis, it will be possible to war. The system now being developed ons of the seabed are such that Hugin is requisition them. It is also advanta- by Norway will be able to clear larger unable to detect the mines, a USV with geous to utilise Norwegian industry and areas faster than before. minesweeping capabilities will be used create the modules ourselves. to trigger detonations. Morten Nakjem is the linchpin of FFI’s Unmanned mine warfare is a pilot pro- concept and technology development. NEW PROBLEMS, NEW SOLUTIONS ject for autonomous modular systems in Although the idea may be simple, it The weight of the minesweepers is a several parts of the Norwegian Armed is often a result of several decades of challenge. Smaller, unmanned surface Forces. Norwegian research and technology de- vessels are unable to pull the heavy velopment. sweeps used by traditional minesweep- "Reconnaissance, situational aware- ing vessels. Therefore, Henriksen Me- ness, communication, target selection, In the late 1970s, FFI began develop- kaniske and FFI have developed a proto- transport and logistics. The utilisation ing saltwater batteries for small sub- type for a new and lighter minesweeper. of autonomous modular systems is marines. The first prototypes for the One variant was tested in the summer only limited by the imagination", says unmanned submarine, Hugin, appeared of 2020. It was used for the old mine- Morten Nakjem. in the mid-1990s. In the future, Hugin sweepers.

60 FFI 75 years HUGIN

Hugin is an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) that can operate autonomously at a depth of several thousand metres, without a physical connection to a boat or remote control.

As early as the 1980s, FFI began looking for new power sources for underwater robots. The advanced sonar technology used to search its surroundings is continuously undergoing development.

01 02 Popular with the kids: An early version of Hugin is displayed at the University Museum of Bergen. Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI

02 From 2028, unmanned surface vessels will begin transporting unmanned submarines out to waters that will be mapped for mines. This photo was taken outside the FFI department in Horten in 2019, during a test of a structure for launching and recovering submarines. Photo: Christian Tandberg / FFI

FFI 75 years 61 MARTIN VONHEIM LARSEN (29)

Researcher

RESIDENCE Oslo

EMPLOYED SINCE 2016

FIELD OF EXPERTISE Mathematics

DIVISION Defence Systems Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI Wang-Naveen Espen Photo:

62 FFI 75 years Researcher Martin Vonheim Larsen / PROFILE FEATURE

SENSORS CHARACTERISE THE BATTLEFIELDS OF THE FUTURE

During math class at lower secon- These tools help us detect things that are dary school, we were given a statistics difficult to spot with the naked eye. We assignment. The assignment was to toss also do research on things that can trig- a die 30 times and calculate the average. ger false alarms and confuse operators. I ended up creating a program that en- Testing in the field is an important part Cheap sensors abled me to do 20 million tosses of the of the job. We spend a lot of time in the die. My teacher just said it was ‘good’. I areas around the Rena military base, and energy-efficient don’t think she really understood how it looking at autonomous vessels and calculating power has worked. work on self-driving boats in Horten. many implications. In my job at FFI, I have plenty of oppor- Thanks to new technology, combi- tunities for fun things like this. Ever ned with strong computing power, the since the age of eleven, I have had a physical world has become more trans- strong interest in programming. If un- parent. We are only studying a fraction manned drones, boats and other sys- of this military technological revolution. tems are to function properly, they must be programmed to take full ad- Over the past five years, a lot has hap- vantage of the hardware. Even though pened in the field of deep learning. What my profession is mostly theoretical, it is we call artificial intelligence is now en- easy to spot the end results. Especially abling machines to interpret images in when things don’t turn out the way they real time. were supposed to. The same applies to data from all types The word ‘tracking’ turns up re- of sensors, such as radar and sonar. Tra- peatedly in much of what my research ditionally, these tasks have been both group is currently doing. We look at difficult and time consuming. how we can use sensors, for instance on a self-driving vehicle, to detect objects It is much harder today to hide a tank that are moving in the immediate area. in the woods, since it is far too easy to

FFI 75 years 63 An unmanned vehicle with radar and pan-tilt-zoom camera is used to give the operator a better overview. Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI

detect. The development of cheap lish Norway as a world leader in these that we can manage to balance these sensors and energy-efficient calcu- technologies. This is essential if we are needs and that the interest in long-term lating power has many implications. to become an attractive collaborative research has been clearly worded. One of them is that it takes far less effort partner; a nation that is recognised by to discover what the enemy is doing. A NATO and the EU. My dialogue with the Norwegian Ar- simple drone or a camera can capture med Forces in my research field has images that previously required dis- In order to stay ahead in technology, been excellent. Only a few years ago, patching a team of soldiers to the woods you have to be best at research. You have many were naturally sceptical, since to locate. to contribute to the international re- automatic processing of sensor data was search communities. In conjunction difficult. Now, I feel that they are pus- In military terms, this would involve with my PhD, I looked at the ethics of hing to test how well things work and materiel, terrain and movement. My defence research. I noticed something what can be done to fool these systems. master’s thesis concerned automatic about the letters of allocation that apply We are talking about who is best, and terrain analysis for the positioning of to FFI. who can fool whom. combat vehicles. I have now commenced work on my PhD. The title itself is a From 2017, they were worded differently. Our job includes enabling others to un- mouthful: Wide Area Long Range Multi- Earlier, there was no mentioned of derstand how enemy systems work. If sensor Object Detection and Tracking. contributing to international research. you are able to disrupt a network or fool Now, this is being emphasised. This is the enemy’s sensors, you are in a good One challenge is to know how far cer- an important antipole to the operational position. Such technologies may deter- tain other nations have come. It is easy departments of the Norwegian Armed mine outcomes on future battlefields.  to fall behind. Some of the most impor- Forces, which prefer to acquire things tant ways FFI can contribute is to estab- they can use immediately. I am proud

64 FFI 75 years 01

02 03

01 Researchers have been working to develop a system that enables the Kongsberg Remote Weapon Station to detect, track and down drones. This system was presented in the winter of 2020.

02 Martin Vonheim Larsen and Sigmund Rolfsjord (left) study the results of the tests on the shooting range.

03 This is how a drone looks after it is hit by a 40 mm airburst grenade.

Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI

FFI 75 years 65 THE TERRORISM RESEARCHERS

How does a terrorist think? What is the driving force for a foreign fighter? Since 1999, a small group of FFI researchers have been asking themselves these questions. Their work is world renowned in studies of terrorism and asymmetrical threats.

This series of research projects is refer- became aware that the entire world was his first contact with the phenomenon red to as TERRA. Among other topics, interested in their work. of al-Qaida and Osama Bin Laden. the researchers study Jihadism and Then came the 9/11 terrorist attacks. how it may threaten Norwegian and The press was surprised that crucial international security. expertise in this area could be found in "It was pretty banal, really. I was here Norway, of all places. Journalists from because I needed a job and then 9/11 AN ABRUPT TRANSITION all over the world came to Kjeller. The happened happened. I became very TERRA was a small research researchers participated in a live inter- motivated and interested in the topic. community, in a country located far view via satellite outside the FFI pre- I wanted to find out what this was and away from the topics it studied. Howe- mises. This was broadcast in Australia, why it happened", says the researcher. ver, in Madrid, on 11 March 2004, it hap- the United Kingdom and the United pened. Ten bombs exploded on four ur- States. AZZAM THE IDEOLOGIST ban trains during rush hour. 193 people Curiosity made him dig deeper to learn were killed, and nearly 2000 injured. 11 SEPTEMBER 2001 the reasons for the acts of terrorism. Research on asymmetric warfare began In 2020, Thomas Hegghammer was be- The Project Manager at the time, with a forward-thinking Research Ma- stowed the FFI award for excellent re- Brynjar Lia, recalls a document he nager Ragnvald H. Solstrand (1942– search communication for his book The had read just before Christmas the 2018). He saw the need to take a closer Caravan: Abdallah Azzam and the Rise previous year. It concerned al-Qaida’s look at international terrorism and of Global Jihad. strategy to get Spain to withdraw from radical Islam. Young people with rele- Iraq. He and his colleague, Thomas vant backgrounds were recruited to the The outline of Azzam’s life included his Hegghammer, found it and translated institute. birth in Palestine in 1941 and his death the most relevant pages. by car bomb in Pakistan in 1989. The One of them was Hegghammer. He had books describes how he became one of The media took an immediate interest. just completed his master’s degree in the most influential ideologists in Jiha- The BBC was among the news outlets Middle East Studies. He had no idea of dism. He was a key figure in the mobilisa- that quickly had more of the document what to do next, other than to work with tion of Arab foreign fighters in Afghan- translated. The news that Norwegian something related to this region. In the istan in the 1980s. Azzam was also the researchers had found a possible link summer of 2001, he obtained an intern- first religious scholar who argued that between al-Qaida and the Madrid bom- ship at FFI. Here, he was tasked with becoming a foreign fighter was an in- bings spread like wildfire. They abruptly writing a report on terrorism. This was dividual, religious duty. Subsequently,

66 FFI 75 years 01 The Madrid train bombings in March 2004 left 193 people dead and injured thousands. Photo: Paul White / TT Nyhetsbyrån / NTB

02 Thomas Hegghammer in 2004, with an al-Qaida document that indicates Spain as a potential terrorist target. Photo: Espen Rasmussen / VG / NTB

01 02

both moderate and radical wings of the nicate their messages. With the arrival Jihadist movement have employed this of the Internet, we became a bit super- doctrine to support their views. fluous. Then they could start killing us. You could probably go to Syria and Hegghammer spent many years on this make contact with a few smaller radi- book. The search for sources led him cal groups, like Ahrar al-Sham. A white, OPEN SOURCES to places where Azzam had lived. The non-Muslim researcher would never PROVIDE KNOWLEDGE content is not simply a dry statement of be allowed into IS as an observer. So, facts. Many have praised his vivid nar- we have to speak with former Jihadists The books, reports and articles from ration. The book was published by Cam- instead". the TERRA community have been bridge University Press. widely read and have won multiple UNAFRAID OF DEATH THREATS awards. PLACES, LIVES AND SMELLS You are active in public debates and Hegghammer and his colleagues have often interviewed. Do you get a lot of The researchers emphasise that they done fieldwork in countries including unwanted attention? work with open sources. They want to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and "Not really. There have been a few death know more about the actors behind Jordan. threats and such, but who hasn’t recei- acts of terrorism. They are particu- ved a death threat these days? If you larly interested in the emergence, "You can’t just sit online and gather pro- are covered on Facebook, in politics or recruitment, radicalisation, ide- paganda. If you don’t know where the- in some other fashion, you encounter a ology, strategies and tactics of these se groups are, how they look, how they lot of strange people. I have never had groups. The research team includes historians and political scientists smell, and how they live, you will never major, important people come after me. that speak relevant languages and truly understand the texts", says Hegg- Had the Norwegian Jihadist community who know the culture of the areas hammer. continued to grow, so that we lost con- they study. trol over it, I might have become a bit There were never any face-to-face meet- anxious. There are instances of people TERRA researchers’ publications ings with active Jihadists. from these communities having shot at include Peter Nesser’s book Islamist people's houses. But it is very rare for Terrorism in Europe (2015) and Anne "That actually became impossible from researchers to become targets for this Stenersen’s al-Qaida in Afghanistan. around 2000. In the past, they needed type of thing. Disliked politicians and researchers and journalists to commu- journalists are higher up on the list". 

FFI 75 years 67 Physicist and computer scientist Pål Spilling had fun at work. He was one of the Internet pioneers. Photo: Terje Heiestad

68 FFI 75 years FROM THE UNITED STATES TO FFI Kjeller was first online

On 15 June 1973, Kjeller became the first place outside the United States to go online. Pål Spilling at FFI pressed the necessary keys.

The outcome was the result of defence of Technology (MIT). FFI’s Yngvar Lundh matters, old friendships, a little luck and worked in the same laboratory. an impressive effort by FFI. These factors helped enable Norway to become the first ARPA AGAINST NUCLEAR BOMBS international member of the Arpanet Pål Spilling was not a computer expert. (ARPA – Defence Advanced Research He was a nuclear physicist. Yet there was Projects Agency). The Arpanet was the still a connection: Arpanet had direct precursor to what is now known as the connections to nuclear threats. Internet. The man that pressed the keys of the very Spilling, age 39 at the time, was the assis- first TIP (Terminal Interface Processor) tant of FFI researcher Yngvar Lundh. FFI’s outside the United States, at the Norsar journalist Øystein Hagen interviewed premises on this day in June 1973, realised Spilling 30 years later. In the interview, how important this could become. the researcher stated that he saw two reasons for Kjeller to become the first node FFI ONLINE Spilling knew pretty much all there outside the United States: The first was was to know about nuclear bombs and that it already had a good relationship with 1973 underground nuclear weapons testing. ARPA via the Norwegian Seismic Array The Cold War lasted from the end of Pål Spilling was a nuclear physicist, (Norsar), where Norway had a strategically World War II until the fall of the Ber- not a computer expert. This is exactly important position. why it was only natural that he was the lin Wall in 1989. NATO and the Warsaw person to establish the first connection Pact were rivals for 44 years. The conflict The other reason was the American between the US Arpanet to FFI on 15 involved the balance of terror and the arms Lawrence Roberts, or Larry, as he was June 1973. race. It also related to who had the most known among friends. In the early powerful and highest number of nuclear 1970s, Roberts led ARPA’s Department weapons. The parties had entered into a of Communication. Larry completed his mutual agreement to halt testing. Neither PhD work at the Massachusetts Institute party believed that the other would uphold

FFI 75 years 69 The idea behind Arpanet was to prevent communications in the United States defence from failing in the event of a comprehensive Soviet nuclear attack. The fear of Russian capabilities was justified: In 1961, the largest nuclear weapon ever, the Tsar Bomba, was detonated over Novaya Zemlya. This was a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. Photo: Reuters / Rosatom / NTB

their end of the agreement. At least not if to respond to the attack, all life on earth ble to view things the same way. I.e., if a they could get away with it unpunished. would be threatened. Only the party that military base were destroyed by a nuclear Thus, Norsar at Kjeller was established, triggered a nuclear war could win. attack, the attack would also make it im- as a branch of FFI. possible to retaliate simultaneously. The The use of packet switching via Arpanet balance of terror had become a game that Norsar used geophones to detect ground significantly reduced this threat. Pac- was impossible to win. vibrations in the strategically important ket switching split this communication northern regions. Such detection instru- data into small segments referred to as Arpanet had therefore contributed to ments can be compared to putting your packets. The packets had information in the ending of the Cold War. Norway was ear to the ground. Both larger and smaller the address field that could reorder the a strategically important NATO outpost. vibrations could have natural explana- information back into a single file. This A great deal of communication and infor- tions. At the same time, they could also was possible, although sometimes an mation was sent via Kjeller. This site was serve as a warning that the Soviet Union information packet or two went missing. therefore vulnerable. It had never been was conducting unlawful underground Parts of the communication data took more dangerous to work at Kjeller than nuclear weapons testing. different paths through the network. during the days of the Cold War. They were then put back together at their Norsar produced daily reports. These destination. FFI VISITED WASHINGTON were sent through a regular line to the Larry Roberts and his second-in-com- Swedish satellite station in Tanum. From A massive nuclear attack could not stop mand, Bob Kahn, visited Kjeller in the there, they continued via satellite to the the information others needed to retaliate. summer of 1972. They proposed a colla- United States. Someone would then be able to immediately boration on the data network via satellite. respond to a nuclear attack. This could be Yngvar Lundh convinced FFI Director of BALANCE OF TERROR DISRUPTED done from an entirely different place in the Research Finn Lied and Research Director Both NATO and the Warsaw Pact realised United States. Or from the rest of the world. Karl Holberg to go along with the idea. the following: In order to win a nuclear war, the attacking party had to annihilate Packet switching changed the rules of They were invited to Washington, partly its enemy. With one strike. Both knew the game. The very logic of the balance of to see the Arpanet. Here, some technical that if the enemy had the opportunity terror took a hit. It was no longer possi- problems were resolved. A technological

70 FFI 75 years It had never been more dangerous to work at Kjeller than during the days of the Cold War.

strategy for Norway’s connection with available to everyone. In other words: nication of messages became essential. Arpanet was devised. Arpanet became a distributed laboratory The network via this protocol was the for researchers and students. foundation. It was also required in order How would this develop? Neither Lundh, to be granted research funding. Resear- Pål Spilling nor Finn-Are Aagesen had In this sandbox, they generously shared chers almost secretly retained what they any idea. Aagesen was the third key everything they learned and received even could, their @ address. This enabled them Norwegian in the Arpanet efforts. Pål more. Researchers at FFI played an im- to maintain network contact with their Spilling also took a business trip to their portant role in the development of packet American colleagues. network friends at University College of switching in the network. They continued London (UCL) and later to Stanford Uni- to develop the technology into the 1980s, "More hierarchical, less anarchic – a duller versity in the United States. At Stanford, through the SATNET project. Up until the and less dynamic working method", said he also met several of the key partici- end of the decade, the exchange of ideas Spilling. He compared this to the rivalry pants in the Stanford University Network, continued between elite universities in the between Microsoft and UNIX. The latter later known as SUN. United States, UCL in London and FFI. continued the tradition where everyone has access to a source code and anyone who Internationally, the Arpanet network be- FFI CONTRIBUTED TO THE PROTOCOLS had something significant to contribute came operational on 15 June 1973. Sig- The institute participated in the highly would be heard. nals were transmitted via satellite active network of nine different resear- stations in Tanum, Sweden and Etam, cher groups. This commenced in 1972 and 20-YEAR ICE AGE West Virginia in the United States. continued for ten years. This collaboration This became a sort of ice age for Norwegian INTERNET, in capital letters, became resulted in the protocols TCP/IP. Internet involvement on the research the designation that included both the front. It lasted until the Internet was Arpanet and the international nodes. The Thus, the standard for packet switched commercialised in 1993. This was nearly Internet, as we know it today, was given its satellite channels, CPODA, was esta- 20 years after Pål Spilling established the name in 1983. At that point, the network blished. Over time, FFI’s neighbour and first connection with the Arpanet. was shared between a military (with the offshoot, Televerket’s forskningsinstitutt suffix .mil) and a civil research network (Norwegian Telecommunications Admi- It should be noted that Norway and Kjeller (with the suffix .edu). nistration’s Research Institute), or TF, were not alone in this new connection took over, encouraged by Pål Spilling. for very long. Their lead, on this day in A SANDBOX FOR EVERYONE He wanted more extensive work on the June 1973, lasted only 20 minutes. The The research groups that Kjeller re- Internet. But he was not heard. TF was University College of London (UCL) were searchers joined met frequently. Be- embedded in the government telecom- then given the opportunity to connect, tween meetings, they did something munications monopoly. The institute right behind Norway. that the world was not yet aware of. They made the same priorities as most govern- sent one another emails. Discussions, ment telecommunications monopolies. The idea behind the US defence network network measurements, program codes was about to become a public domain. and ideas were all sent back and forth. ANARCHISTS WERE BOUND Thus, the contributions of FFI resear- The same applied to other European chers were an important step on the path New solutions were tested, tried, correc- telecommunications agencies. They took toward the Internet. A network no one ted, debugged, and tested again in record control in the 1980s. These were old and can imagine being without anymore.  time. Often, such things occurred over often cumbersome organisations. All the course of a day or two. All important research collaboration became more for- information was documented in RFCs mally organised, more structured and (Request for Comments). This was made slower. The X400 standard for commu-

FFI 75 years 71 Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI HOW SVERDRUP UNCOVERS THE How do different whales react to noise in the sea? How many shipwrecks are there along the Norwegian coastline DEEP SEA and where are they located? What is the condition of chemical ammunitions dumped into the Skagerrak Strait? H.U. SVERDRUP II

Launched: Flekkefjord in 1990 Length: 55 metres Crew: 7

The ship is FFI’s third research ship, after the Tustna (1946) and the H.U. Sverdrup I (1960).

Since 1990, the H.U. Sverdrup II has 01 combed Norwegian waters, searching for answers to these questions. Mapping is carried out year-round. This is FFI’s own vessel. The red and white ship is in principle a floating measuring device, 55 metres in length.

The equipment on board can provide many answers. What is down there? What does the seabed look like? How hard or rough is it? What type of sediment can be found? What type of power is required? Are there unknown shipwrecks down there? 02 EXTREME ECHO SOUNDING Most refer to FFI’s third research ship simply as Sverdrup. Sverdrup is equip- INSPECTING THE SEABED a catering assistant for the upcoming ped with a Norwegian-manufactured Svolsbru is in charge of the numerous expedition. Right now, she is serving lunch. echo sounder that surpasses all others expeditions with the Sverdrup. He has no "They used to call people like us ‘mess on the market. The EM 712 Multibeam doubts that the ship has an important mis- girls’. While at sea, we become our own echo sounder from Kongsberg Maritime sion for the Norwegian Armed Forces. The little community. Although the compo- enables mapping of the seabed down to topography of the seabed has an impact sition of researchers varies from time to 3400 metres, if the conditions are other- on the use of sonar, which is the vessel’s time, there are so many who return for wise good. Each time the echo sounder most important instrument for orientation new expeditions that I know the names ‘pings’, it captures an enormous amount in the depths of the ocean. Knowledge of of their spouses, kids and dogs", she says. of data from the seabed. Each of these the ocean depths and the landscape of the measurements captures a field on the seabed can potentially be an advantage SVERDRUP UNIT seabed. These surfaces are referred to during submarine operations. On the wall of the common room is a pic- as footprints. At a depth of 40 metres, ture of the man the ship is named after. the echo sounder registers an enor- Among Norway’s many research ships, Renowned Norwegian oceanographer mous row of these. Details the size Sverdrup is one of the smallest. and meteorologist Harald Ulrik Sverdrup of a newspaper page will be clearly visible. (1888–1957) led the scientific studies "We don’t want the ship to be much bigger during Roald Amundsen’s expedition HORTEN IS THE HOME PORT than this. We often operate out in the on the Maud from 1917 to 1924. He be- It is not possible to simply go aboard. The fjords. And we are often close to land. came the first director of the Norwegian gangway is blocked. In 2020, the year of the Larger vessels would be an impediment", Polar Institute, founded in 1948. He is coronavirus, not even management were says Svolsbru. considered one of the leading resear- admitted until everything was thoroughly chers in the field of oceanography. His checked. Able Seaman Arne must measure A SEPARATE COMMUNITY work was so widely recognised that he Research Manager Torgeir Svolsbru’s There are seven crew members. One of had his own unit of measurement named temperature. them is Ann from Kristiansund. She is after him, which measured the ocean

74 FFI 75 years 04

01 The view is wide from the bridge of the Sverdrup. Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI

02 Corona check is mandatory. Able seaman Arne measures Torgeir Svolsbru's temperature before he can get on board. Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI

03 A lot of research is done by placing out buoys and measuring instruments. Photo: Christian Tandberg / FFI

04 Ann from Kristiansund makes sure researchers and crew get what they need from the galley. 03 Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI

currents. A Sverdrup is one cubic kilo- Researchers are permitted to load the rapid light craft and equipment that allow metre per second. deck with containers that contain special them to attach sonars to whales who come devices for measurement and, for instance, up for air. These sensors are approxima- A LAB IS VITAL Hugin, the FFI-developed autonomous tely the size of a mobile phone. They are The ship’s most important room is the Lab. underwater vehicle that has become an attached to whales with a suction cup Here, the windows have been replaced essential export product for Kongsberg. and remain in place for about 24 hours. with light from computer screens. Infor- During this period, researchers are able mation is often sent directly to clients Sverdrup has been used as a mother ship to collect data on the whale’s movements, on land. There are also clients other than for Hugin, when examining the environ- before the sensor floats up and is collected the Norwegian Armed Forces. One good ment around old drilling holes. The ves- by the ship. example is the Mareano Project. The Insti- sel has been equipped with methane de- tute of Marine Research, the Geological tectors, to check where methane gas bub- THE ORDER BOOK IS FULL Survey of Norway, and the Norwegian bles up from the seabed. Hugin’s side-scan Torgeir Svolsbru has determined that FFI’s Mapping Authority are all involved, with sonar provides an image of an object on the order book for research vessels is now full. the Norwegian Environment Agency as seabed, with a one-centimetre resolution. "We have up to 320 expeditions per year", the highest authority. The purpose of This has been used in the Skagerrak Strait he explains. the Mareano Project is to map the ocean to study many of the shipwrecks with depths and assess seabed conditions, dumped ammunition. The Norwegian "As we have a large variety of assignments, biodiversity, natural habitats and the Armed Forces use Hugin for minesweeping. very few people grow tired of participating, chemistry of the sediment in Norwegian which is also the case for the researchers coastal and marine areas. HOW DOES THE WHALE REACT? who are frequently aboard. We can all The Sverdrup has also been a tool for rese- agree on the biggest frustration: Sitting in On the Sverdrup, researchers are able archers who have studied the reactions of thick fog that often surrounds the waters to study everything from hagfish to old different types of whales to military sonar. around Svalbard".  shipwrecks and dumped mustard gas. Researchers have utilised the Sverdrup’s

FFI 75 years 75 PROFILE FEATURE / Principal Scientist Rune Sellevåg

FROM INDUSTRIAL MECHANICS TO CIVIL PROTECTION

My entry point to research has been RECSYR. It involved about a thousand The Total Defence Division has vario- a bit unusual. Ever since I was little, I tonnes of chemicals. These were part of us projects, which means we can follow have been fascinated by technical gad- the chemical warfare agents of President Norwegian society closely over many gets. This was not that unusual for a Bashar al-Assad. The containers were years. Personally, I am now just as famili- coutry boy from Tysnes. I was also very to be transported out of the port city of ar with civil agencies as I am with the va- interested in space and space travel. Latakia, and the contents were to be de- rious branches of the Norwegian Armed For a long time, I considered becoming stroyed. I was aboard the cargo ship MV Forces. Perhaps more. a watchmaker, until I realised that this Taiko for three months as an advisor, would be a very narrow future. How- hired for this particular assignment. To FFI is in a good position to assess com- ever, since I really enjoyed fidgeting with protect us against attacks, we were esco- plex threats to society. We know what things, I started my career in the field of rted by the frigate KNM Helge Ingstad. combinations make us vulnerable. By industrial mechanics. I obtained my tra- But the operation went well. spring 2021, we will be publishing three de certificate at a refinery in Mongstad, reports for the judicial sector. These north of Bergen. This led to an interest I was also the Research Manager of reports concern future challenges for in becoming an engineer. Along the way, the Total Defence Division for four years. the police, Norwegian Police Security I found university studies so enjoyable Until 2016, I led a research programme Service (PST) and Norwegian prose- that I kept going, this time at Blindern, regarding protection against chemical cuting authorities. One of the reports is University of Oslo. I usually say that I weapons. Then, I decided I wanted to re- unclassified. Classified studies are im- went from industrial mechanics to quan- turn to research. portant for the client, although these tum mechanics. are unlikely to have a significant impact Now, I am working on civil protection in on public debate. Some aspects of re- My PhD was in physical chemistry and an entirely different field. We are looking search involving social development concerned the decomposition of green- at future challenges for agencies under may be highly classified and therefore house gases in the atmosphere. After my the Ministry of Justice and Public Se- relatively unknown. For me and FFI, it PhD, I started worked for Sintef Energy curity. This is part of the long-term plans is important to try to do both. It is always in Trondheim for two years. I also did a for the police, Norwegian Police Security useful to have part of the research open research fellowship at Sandia National Service (PST) and the Norwegian prose- to the public, as this allows for external Laboratories in California. After that, I cuting authorities. This work is an exten- critique.  was a post-doctoral fellow at Blindern sion of an FFI report on civil protection. for a period. The job I applied for at Along with the operation RECSYR, this FFI in 2009 was in the Protection Div- is one of the most meaningful assign- ision. I am still with this division but ments I have had. now it is called Total Defence. I have been working on i sues relating to chem- Some might say that I, as a chemist, ical weapons for ten years. have now become a criminologist. I have not. However, I have learned a great deal One of the most exciting assignments about threats to national security. The I have been involved in was in the waters point is that you can continue to develop It is always useful outside Syria from 2013 to 2014. The your expertise here at FFI. What is most to keep part of the Norwegian Navy asked FFI to join them important for a researcher to learn is to in retrieving compounds for chemi- be inquisitive and have a methodical ap- research open. cal weapons. This operation was called proach to a problem.

76 FFI 75 years STIG RUNE SELLEVÅG (45)

Principal Scientist

RESIDENCE Jessheim

EMPLOYED SINCE 2009

FIELD OF EXPERTISE Originally chemistry

DIVISION Total Defence Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI Wang-Naveen Espen Photo:

FFI 75 years 77 NEW TRENDS MAY CHANGE EVERYTHING

The way we think about war and defence may change in just 20 years and be entirely different from today. Artificial intelligence, sensors and 3D printing will become more integrated and unified. These changes may force the Norwegian Armed Forces to change the way it thinks.

Researchers see many trends that could NEW CHALLENGES possible to manipulate biochemical re- change the Norwegian Armed Forces it- NATO has defined several technolo- actions in the body. Living sensors may self. Technological convergence will be- gies under the umbrella of Emerging then be created. come essential. Why? Because the sum Disruptive Technologies – EDT. These of all solutions could become far greater EDTs will be followed closely by the Material technology. It will be possi- than each individual innovation. In alliance. Disruptive technologies dis- ble to design new materials with unique recent years, certain innovations have place existing solutions. In civil society, physical qualities. This would be especi- matured, such as autonomy technology, typical examples of actors that have ally important for the development and artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and based themselves on new technological use of 2D materials. These are materials new, advanced materials. The overall opportunities include Amazon, Netflix that consist of a single layer of atoms. impact could be enormous. and Norwegian mobile payment appli- Two-dimensional materials could be cation Vipps. In this manner, they have used in solar cells, among other things. DISTINCTIONS WILL BE BLURRED displaced their competitors, and to a These technological convergences are certain extent, they have created enti- Quantum technology. Over the next certain to open new areas of use, reduce rely new arenas. twenty years, quantum technology will the time it takes to achieve the desired increase the opportunity to collect, effect and meet far more needs. In a military context, the following process and use data from command, combinations are considered especially control, communications, computers, The government or authority that ma- important: intelligence, surveillance and recon- nages to see and utilise such opportu- naissance. This is known as C4ISR nities before their enemies do, will have Autonomous technology. A combina- solutions. This will be possible, as qu- a strong advantage in a conflict or war. tion of autonomy, big data and artificial antum technology will provide more se- Utilising convergences is a recipe for intelligence. It uses smart, inexpensive cure communication, improved compu- success. and distributed sensors in its network, tational power and increased sensor together with autonomous units. They capacity. FFI expects this development to gra- will force new methods that offer mili- dually erase the distinctions between tary-strategic and operational advantages. Space technology. Space-based quan- different domains of warfare and bran- tum sensors and communication with ches of service. Researchers have a Biotechnology. Artificial intelligence quantum key distribution will give us an strong focus on trends that may affect combined with big data makes it pos- entirely new group of sensors. These can the military operations of the Norwe- sible to design new medicines and use- be placed in satellites. Space-based low gian Armed Forces. ful genetic modifications. It will also be energy sensors will be utilised. These

78 FFI 75 years will become part of a network activated by quantum sensors and can become an essential part of military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Hypersonic technology. New materials, miniaturisation, more effective energy storage, new production methods and new propulsion systems will be essential for utilising opportunities in space and what NATO refers to as hypersonic environments. This development will reduce prices, increase reliability, improve performance and enable the production of tailored systems where necessary.

WHEN WILL THIS HAPPEN? When will these changes occur? It is difficult to know when such technologies will change the way the Norwegian Armed Forces operates. Perhaps some new solutions will arrive earlier than expected, while others will encounter obstacles that delay their implementation for decades. Rival states and their defence industries prefer to play their cards close to their chests. The development of new weapons and systems and how far researchers have come, is rarely divulged openly.

TRENDS ARE EXAMINED All these new trends involve technology. All are based on opportunities to alter warfare and the balance of power between states. Trend studies are therefore an essential part of the work at FFI. The goal is to analyse the broad consequences of technology for Norwegian military operations. This is necessary for planning the road ahead of the Norwegian Armed Forces. 

FFI 75 years 79 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST 75 YEARS

The history of FFI is full of events. Many have had an impact on the Norwegian Armed Forces, while some have also affected society in general. Here are a few of the most important milestones.

The common thread through the Norwe- system Terne led to Penguin, Norway’s gian Defence Research Establishment’s major research and development project 75-year history is innovation. Researchers in the 1960s and 70s. The next step has have invented, improved and altered been the NSM and JSM missiles. everything from equipment and devices that make soldiers’ lives a little better, FFI was involved in the establishment to self-driving underwater vehicles, ad- of Norsk Data and the Internet. Notable vanced homing devices for missiles, companies such as IFE, Nilu and Norsar micro-helicopters and satellites. are all offshoots of the institute. Resear- chers have assisted the Norwegian Many of the innovations from FFI have Armed Forces in the selection of aircraft, become successful for Norwegian indus- frigates and insight into future combat try. The first research on submarine de- scenarios. fence in the late 1940s is a good example of a spin-off. ASDIC research led to echo The list is extensive. Unfold and read sounding devices from Simrad, which about some of the highlights since the changed the everyday lives for Norwegian start-up in 1946. fisheries. The anti-submarine weapon

80 FFI 75 years

1967 MISSILE ENGINE 1948 1955 FFI and Raufoss Ammunisjons- 1972 1990 2003 2018 fabrikk (Ammunition Factory) SONAR PROXIMITY FUSE FOR MORTARS develop the engine for the HYDROPHONE STATION THE EPITEK LABORATORY IS INAUGURATED JOINT STRIKE MISSILE (JSM) JOINT STRIKE MISSILE (JSM) Development of ASDIC A breakthrough in electronics miniaturisation Penguin Mk1. A hydrophone station prototype is created. The first of its kind in communication Feasibility studies of the First successful firing (sonar) for harbour defence makes mortars more effective. An important It collects data from the seabed and is not and electro-optics in Scandinavia. JSM begin. of the JSM. begins. FFI’s technology work begins for FFI. TELEVERKETS FORSKNINGS- dependent on a vessel. is commercialised through INSTITUTT (Research Intstitute of NEW RESEARCH VESSEL NEW FIGHTER AIRCRAFT 3D PRINTING Simrad, with success in the The research Vessel “H.U. Sverdrup II” FFI’s support in the selection of At the NATO exercise fishing fleet. 1957 1960 Norwegian Telecommunications) 1973 is established at Kjeller, as an relieves “H.U. Sverdrup I” (1960). fighter aircraft begins. Trident Juncture, 3D offshoot of FFI. printing of spare parts THE INSTITUTE FOR FIRST COMPUTER TRIAXIAL COLLABORATION COMPUTER SCIENCE/INTERNET WEAPON STATION FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE in the field is demonstrated. NUCLEAR ENERGY FFI receives its first The collaboration between the Norwegian On 15 June, FFI at Kjeller is the first place Development of a remote-controlled FFI calls its first ever press (IFA, later IFE) is established electronic calculator/ Armed Forces, the industry and FFI begins 1968 outside of the United States to be connected weapon station begins. conference. The topic is a INNOVATION 1945 at Kjeller, as an offshoot 1953 computer, named to take shape. to the ARPANET, precursor to the Internet. 1983 1999 brand new FFI report: 2009 The project ICE worx, 2021 of FFI. Frederic after FFI`s BØYUM’S METHOD al-Qaidas media strategy. FFI’s innovation centre, first Director General. PEACE JOINT SVERDRUP Arne Bøyum’s method KONGSBERG DEFENCE & AEROSPACE (KDA) TERRORISM RESEARCH JOINT STRIKE MISSILE (JSM) is established. RIMFAX, THE World War II has The research vessel “H.U. Sverdrup I” for the separation of Relocates to Kjeller, in order to be closer FFI begins research Development of GROUND-PENETRATING WORKSHOP relieves “Tustna” (1946). cells is published. ended. The idea The joint to FFI and the development of Penguin’s on terrorism and asym- the JSM begins. RADAR of establishing 1950 workshop 1958 1974 seeker head. 1991 1994 metric threats (TERRA). 2005 2014 NASA’s Mars rover FFI develops into at Kjeller is PENGUIN MISSILE “Perseverance” lands concrete plans. First successful firing IN-HOUSE SCHOOL established. THE TERNE MISSILE THE COMBAT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THE KOBRA RADIO SYSTEM NAVAL STRIKE MOBILE AIR DEFENCE NANOSATELLITE NASA SELECTS FFI on 18 February 2021. This later 1961 of Penguin. Development of the radio system KOBRA It is carrying the ground- FFI establishes Kongsberg Våpen- The Combat Management System FFI advises the Royal Development of FFI is selected as becomes (Communication for the Brigade’s Air MISSILE (NSM) penetrating radar RIMFAX, its own in-house fabrikk (Weapons MSI-90U for submarines is launched. Norwegian Air Force on nanosatellite (AISSat) the supplier of the a prototype RADIOBIOLOGY NORSAR Defence) begins. FFI and Kongsberg developed by FFI. school. workshop. Factory) begins A Toxicology Division Start-up of the project begins colla- the delivery of the mobile air begins. ground-penetrating manufacturing is established, to strengthen NORSAR, which conducts FIGHTER AIRCRAFT ANALYSIS boration on a defence system Norwegian radar for NASA’s Terne. research on radiation and seismological recording Fighter aircraft analysis is completed new NSM. Advanced Surface-to-Air next Mars rover, nerve agents. of nuclear explosions. and forms the basis for the selection Missile System (NASAMS) “Perseverance”. of new fighter aircraft. from KDA/Raytheon. 1946 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

70 YEARS ANTI-SUBMARINE RADIO LINK FFI is celebrating WEAPON SYSTEM The first radio link ODIN LONG-TERM PLANNING NEW F-16 FIGHTER AIRCRAFT NANSEN FRIGATES NAVAL STRIKE MISSILE (NSM) AUTONOMOUS MINE CLEARING 70 years with an Development of the for the Norwegian PENGUIN MISSILE FFI begins work on Odin, Long-term planning for the General Dynamics’ F-16 Fighting FFI begins requirements specification First successful firing FFI begins the work of making exhibition at the the fire control system for Norwegian Armed Forces Falcon is selected as Norway’s NEW NAVAL STRIKE HUGIN for the procurement of the Nansen frigates. of the NSM. mine clearing entirely autonomous. Terne anti-submarine Armed Forces The feasibility MISSILE FFI’s autonomous Norwegian Armed is established the field artillery. becomes a separate field at FFI. new fighter aircraft. weapon system begins. study for the Work on the homing submarine completes Forces Museum. CLOSER COLLABORATION between Bergen F-16 FIGHTER ONLINE REPORTS Penguin missile device for the new a one hundred FFI develops closer collaboration with and Haugesund. FFI begins publishing all of begins, under the 1965 1970 1975 AIRCRAFT Naval Strike Missile nautical mile journey 1997 2010 2016 the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and FFI’s unclassified research codename Fix. First F-16 arrives (NSM) begins. in the Skagerrak Strait. Public Security, including in the field of 1947 1951 in Norway. reports on its website ffi.no societal security. 1987 1993 NEW F-35 FIGHTER AIRCRAFT CO-LOCATION FIRST ARTILLERY FUSE 1959 ROCKET RANGE MULTI PURPOSE AMMUNITION 1980 2004 Lockheed Martin’s F-35 is selected as The Norwegian Armed 2019 FFI IS ESTABLISHED Artillery fuse (ignition device) Ferdinand, Norway’s first research rocket The first Multi Purpose Ammunition is launched Norway’s new fighter aircraft. FFI has Force’s microbiological On 11 April, the Norwegian Parliament for the Terne missile is developed. is launched from Oksebåsen on Andøya. by FFI and Raufoss Ammunisjonsfabrikk (ammunition served as advisor. laboratory is co-located (Stortinget) decides to establish the factory). with FFI. Norwegian Defence Research Establishment. WIRELESS TELEPHONY SUBMARINE LISTENING AUTONOMOUS SUBMARINE TENT STOVE BLACK HORNET Microwave-based radio link The submarine communications cable for NILU The development of the The Norwegian Armed Forces begins Agreement between Prox Dynamics and FFI SELF-PROPELLED SYSTEMS TUSTNA (telephony) is opened between the U.S.-funded listening system Bridge is The Norwegian Institute for Air Research is autonomous submarine using FFI-developed M-94 tent stoves. to develop the nano helicopter Black Hornet Autonomous systems are “Tustna” becomes FFI’s first research vessel. Oslo and Bergen. laid near Stave on Andøya. established as an offshoot of FFI. Hugin begins. for the Norwegian Armed Forces. becoming a priority area for FFI. 1946 1954 1962 1969 1990 1996 2008 2015

Maymana Bergen

Oslo

BEFORE YR (NORWEGIAN 1946 FFI IS BORN 1954 WIRELESS TELEPHONY 1957 COMPUTER INITIATIVES 1967 FFI PRODUCES OFFSHOOTS 1978 WEATHER SERVICE) 1957-83 RAPID DEVELOPMENT 1985 AMBITIOUS RADIO 1990 THE EPITEK LAB 2008 AFGHANISTAN 2015 A DRONE IN HAND 2021 CORONAVIRUS RESEARCH On 11 April, the Norwegian Parliament Microwave-based radio link is opened Research on missiles, in particular, requires comput- Televerkets forskningsinstitutt (Research Institute FFI has its own, local weather radar long before Finn Lied’s 26 years as Director General was a period Hanne Hunges with the weapon terminal for the radio The Epitek laboratory is inaugurated; the first FFI sends the first operations analyst Those working with unmanned aerial FFI’s experiences with, among other things, bio- (Stortinget) decides to establish FFI. between Oslo and Bergen. The radio ing power. Harald Keilhau sits at FFI’s first electronic of Norwegian Telecommunications) is established at services like Yr become commonplace. The radar of rapid development. The budget grows from under system KOBRA, which is to prevent eavesdropping of its kind in Scandinavia. Here, it is possible to to the Norwegian-led stabilisation vehicles, known as drones, research logical agents is employed to trace the virus during Fredrik Møller becomes the first link provided telephony based on computer, Frederic; the fastest in Europe. Norsk Data Kjeller in 1967, Norwegian Seismic Array (NORSAR) is developed for the field artillery. Here, Georg W. NOK 7 million to well over 50 million. The number and disruptions and is an important step toward the “customise” semiconductors and develop new force in Maymana, Afghanistan. many models during the course of the the coronavirus pandemic. This work provides Director General in 1947. FFI starts relaytransmission, instead of tradi- and Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk’s (Weapons Factory) in 1968 and the Norwegian Institute for Air Research Rosenberg is busy with its operation. of staff grows from around 300 to more than 600. development of the industrial product Multi Role materialsand components in the fields of 2000s. knowledge on the use of methods for future events. out with 40 employees. tional and expensive telephone lines. computer division are among the fruits from FFI’s (NILU) followed in 1969. Kjeller becomes a technological hub. Radio (MRR). communication and electro-optics. computer initiatives. Bøyum’s method Nanosatellites RIMFAX The Penguin missile Hugin, the mini AUV NORWAY’S MOST CITED A NEARLY EXPLORATION OF THE FLYING A RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC WORK IMPOSSIBLE TASK ANOTHER PLANET PENGUIN INDUSTRIAL ADVENTURE

Arne Bøyum worked on, among other things, the The success story of Norwegian nanosatellites RIMFAX is the ground-penetrating radar that will The Penguin Project entailed new and in part, imma- Hugin is an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). consequences of human exposure to radiation. In his began with a collaboration between FFI, the explore Mars. The radar will look under the surface ture technologies in heat-sensitive detector materi- It can operate autonomously at a depth of several doctoral thesis, he described a Norwegian Space Agency and of Mars and provide new insight into the geology als, laser and inertial navigation. The thousand metres, without a physical connection to a technique for isolating a Kongsberg Seatex AS. of the Red Planet. continued development occurred in boat or remote control from the surface. 7 special sub-group of close collaboration with the industry white blood cells from An ordinary satellite often The ground-penetrating radar is developed and de- and the Norwegian Armed Forces. In the 1990s, a collaboration began with Kongsberg the blood. weighs over several hund- livered on assignment from NASA. RIMFAX is one of Maritime and Statoil on the development of AUVs for red kilos and is priced in seven scientific instruments placed on the NASA The new missiles NSM and JSM are seafloor mapping in the oil industry. The result was FFI SUCCESS STORIES The World Health the billions of Norwegian rover “Perseverance”, which was sent to Mars in the successors of Penguin. The a prototype that was self-supplied with energy, navi- Organization (WHO) has kroner. FFI’s nanosatellites 2020 and which landed on 18 February 2021. development of missiles and gated precisely and executed assignments automa- made Bøyum’s method perform their tasks so effici- rockets has been an uninterrupted tically. ONE OF THE WORLD’S the standard for how to ently and at such low costs Developing technology that will be sent to another FFI activity since its establishment MOST ADVANCED The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment is isolate blood cells. that they have received planet places considerable demands on the resear- in 1947, with the anti-submarine The international breakthrough occurred in 2000, international attention. chers, and for meticulous testing and documentation. missile Terne as its first initiative. when Hugin became the first of its kind to be sold on UNDERWATER ROBOTS behind thousands of innovations, big and small. the international market. FFI’s navigation system tip- ped the balance. In 2017, the Royal Norwegian Navy Here are the top seven success stories selected by ordered four complete vehicles to commence the FFI’s own employees. transition to autonomous systems for mine countermeasures Arne Bøyum 6 kg RIMFAX PENGUIN WAS Hugin is continuously being developed and is among AUV ONE OF THE the most advanced underwater robots in the world. 1968 2005 2014 1961 Kongsberg Maritime is currently the biggest on the 1993 Researcher and The cube-like Radar Imager for WORLD’S FIRST market for such AUVs. FFI continues to conduct rese- Autonomous Research Director nanosatellites measure Mars’ subsurface HOMING arch on the improvement of sonar technology, auto- Underwater nomy, navigation and power supply. PROJECT START at FFI PROJECT START only 20 centimetres PROJECT START experiment PROJECT START MISSILES PROJECT START Vehicle

BØYUM’S METHOD IS A THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO CREATE In the 1960s, it was merely a dream that computer equipment could communicate with each other. A TERRA STANDARD AT LABORATORIES SATELLITES THAT WERE ABLE TO Computer technology network could be better utilised if messages were Terrorism research WORLDWIDE MONITOR SHIPPING divided into packages, sent and reassembled at the 1999 DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNET recipient. This is referred to as “packet switching”. A SMALL, BUT WORLD-CLASS, A series of research This was demonstrated for the first time between COMMUNITY PROJECT START projects four computers in the United States, which was the beginning of the ARPANET. Behind it was ARPA – Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency. Arne Bøyum’s article from 1968 was ranked number FFI developed the first AISSat-1, which was launched in A foresighted leader at FFI, Ragnvald Solstrand, 67 in scientific journal Nature’s list of the world 100 2010. Since then, a series of small satellites have been DARPA FFI began its own development of computers in the established a research project at FFI on asymmetric most cited research articles (2014). He was the only developed and launched. NorSat-3 to be launched in 1972 1960s. In 1972, FFI researcher Yngvar Lundh recei- warfare. This took place in the late 1990s. In 2001, it Norwegian on the list. 2021. ved an ARPANET demonstration in the United States. developed into TERRA, which, in particular, studies Defence He commenced a project on computer network international terrorism and militant Islamism. FFI RESEARCHERS ARE Advanced Research technology. As a result of this work, an ARPANET USED AS EXPERTS BY PROJECT START Projects Agency node was established at Kjeller in 1973. It was through This small community has developed world class this node that the first email message was sent; from terrorism research. They have continuously produced THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA the United States to London. doctoral theses, books, articles and op-eds. With the usual cigar hanging from his mouth, the Norwegian pioneer and engineer Odd Dahl screws the payload onto the first Norwegian research missile, Ferdinand 1, which was launched from Andøya on 18 August 1962. Photo: FFI BURNING JELLY Spermal was Norwegian napalm

A biproduct of the whaling industry piqued the interest of researchers.

We know napalm as a horrific weapon from the Vietnam FFI discovered that they could use one of the raw materials from War. This has become ingrained in our culture, due to the whale oil – spermaceti. This acidic substance was superior to image of the naked children running from the Vietnamese napalm. It could be dissolved in gasoline in temperatures down village in 1972. In the film Apocalypse Now (1979), Lieutenant to 0°C. It could also be stored for up to one and a half year, while Colonel Kilgore states the most chilling line in the film: napalm deteriorated after just six months. This new, acid-based "I love the smell of napalm in the morning". gasoline thickening agent was given the name ‘spermal’.

Napalm is a flammable gelling agent. Firebombs containing After many trials of flamethrowers and aerial bombs, FFI built napalm were first used during the invasion of Normandy a factory for experiments. There, 100 tonnes of spermal was and later by the United States during the Korean War and in subsequently produced. The ambition was to export the product, Vietnam. Many countries still employ such weapons, despite then under the name ‘Northick’. the controversy regarding their use. Norwegian napalm was used during exercises, to simulate nu- FFI developed a Norwegian variant of napalm, called ‘spermal’. clear explosions and for the Penguin trials. Spermal provided This is how the story goes: In Norway, military materiel were the heat source for missiles to locate and steer toward. Despite a often exposed cold temperatures. In the early 1950s, resear- great deal of marketing directed at Norway’s allies, there was no chers were asked to develop a thickening agent for gasoline that interest in the product. The entire inventory of what had become could withstand cold temperatures. Napalm is just that – thick, ‘Northick II’ was left to the Norwegian Civil Defence in 1960. gelled gasoline. DORMITORY ON FIRE American napalm was based on coconut oil – thus the wordplay One incident in FFI’s history showed that experimentation on ‘palm’. However, napalm stiffened and became insoluble in with spermal could go very wrong. The first shot during a flame- gasoline when temperatures dropped below 15°C. Therefore, the thrower experiment at Kjeller in 1954 went awry. The mate- material would largely be unusable in the Norwegian climate. rial set fire to the gable of FFI’s own dormitory. The next shot went through the trees next to it. It hit the wall of the aircraft WHALE OIL WITHSTOOD THE COLD factory’s materials building, which was under construction. At this point in time, whaling was a major industry. Chemists at

82 FFI 75 years Here we see a successful test of a flamethrower. This time the dormitory was spared. Photo: FFI

FFI 75 years 83 84 FFI 75 years WHERE IS FFI HEADING?

WHERE IS FFI HEADING?

What tasks are awaiting FFI in the coming decades? Where should researchers be looking?

Unfortunately, there is no crystal ball Cyber domain. Many states are now challenging for the people who will be to show the most crucial tasks for the investing heavily in the field of offensive monitoring them all. There could be too Norwegian Armed Forces. There are far and defensive cyber operations. There is much data. Researchers are working on too many challenges. Nevertheless, there no doubt that this is a top global priority. systems and solutions to make this job are a few notable developments. We have Activity in this area has already become easier, with more efficient surveillance. taken a closer look at four areas of signifi- substantial. FFI researchers are careful- The biggest tasks ahead for researchers cance for FFI in the years to come. ly studying what states’ data breaches are in the field of artificial intelligence. entail and how they can be addressed. Long-term planning. Future threats are not only technological in nature. Innovation. How quickly would indus- Turn the page and learn more.  They may also deal with the Norwe- try and defence forces be able to develop gian Armed Forces’ capacity to main- new innovations? The new ICE worx can tain a balance between means and ends. become an important part of the answer. Therefore, FFI has focused on long- term planning based on solid know- Sensors. Theoretically, the Norwegian ledge and a good foundation for decision Armed Forces can have eyes and ears making: What solutions can actually be everywhere. This frenetic development realised in the years to come? of all types of sensors may also be highly

FFI 75 years 85 WHERE IS FFI HEADING? / Long-term planning

LONG-TERM PLANNING IS A WEAPON

One research area with an extensive past might this development impact societal at FFI is also an area that has a very pro- security? mising future. The purpose of supporting THE DIRECTOR OF the defence sector’s long-term planning is The researchers’ point is that critical to find solutions that can actually be reali- societal functions are becoming increas- RESEARCH WHO sed and that are flexible and cost effective. ingly complex and mutually dependent. THOUGHT AHEAD New perspectives and a holistic approach Such planning requires the ability to en- will therefore be necessary in the areas of Former Director of Research Ragn- vision various scenarios. Operations ana- regional planning and security. vald H. Solstrand was the ‘father’ lysts, economists, experts in security pol- of long-term planning at FFI. In his icy and officers all sit down together. They The report was commissioned by the Min- summarised report from 2010, he then typically discuss the possible effects istry of Justice and Public Security. The wrote: "A planning system can best of a conflict or war on various aspects of researchers have reviewed a number of be judged based on the contribu- the Norwegian Armed Forces. What are key development features that may have tions it makes to good decision the weaknesses? What must be rectified? implications for societal security inclu- making". For him, it was just as ding security policies, social and econo- important to simulate budgets as Analysts at FFI are in close and frequent mic conditions, climate and technological defence combat. The threat of an imbalance between means and ends contact with leaders in the Norwegian developments. In the report, FFI has also in the Norwegian Armed Forces was Armed Forces, including both politi- looked at potential positive features: What always present. cians and military professionals. In 2021, are the opportunities and challenges this community will continue to work of certain technological megatrends for Long-term planning has been a together, including on a project that will societal security. separate discipline at the institute assist the Norwegian Armed Forces in its since the 1970s. The need arose strategic development. While this type of Digital cloud services, the Internet of when the Norwegian Armed Forces research is common for the defence sec- Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (KI), faced planning and management tor, it is almost absent elsewhere in the 5G and robotisation are all important problems once the United States government apparatus. Nor is the police technological areas. They all contribute stopped providing financing for and justice system accustomed to long- to the digital transformation of society. weapons systems. The Norwegian term planning as a regular discipline. This FFI expects new technology to have im- Armed Forces had to learn to be situation may change in the years to come. plications for police work. Such techno- self-sufficient. This led to a commu- The idea of a total defence system, with logies may also result in increased value nity that had the capacity to sit down different types of preparedness for crisis creation for businesses and improved and explore problems that were management in society will require more public services. perhaps not topical for the Norwe- long-term perspectives. At the beginning gian Armed Forces, but that could of 2020, FFI began a limited collabora- It may take some time before long-term become important for emergency tion with the judicial sector. There may be planning becomes a regular part of the preparedness and the economy more in the future. budget in sectors other than the Norwe- over time. gian Armed Forces. This means that re- One set of circumstances for long-term searchers will continue to rely on support planning are described in an FFI report from individual projects. Nevertheless, from 2020: "Societal security towards FFI sees that the tools and methods used 2030 - trendst". In this report, 13 FFI by the planning community can be imple- researchers discussed the following major mented in other areas. In the coming deca- questions: How will the world and Norway des, long-term planning may become one continue to develop towards 2030? How of Norway’s most important weapons.

86 FFI 75 years Cyber domain / WHERE IS FFI HEADING?

HIGH STAKES IN CYBERSPACE

Put simply, cyberspace is the ‘space’ of Foreign Affairs stated publicly that operations. Combat could then continue created by the world’s information Russia was likely behind this breach. despite the enemy’s attempt to harm us and communication technology (ICT). through cyberspace. Much of this space is accessible to eve- Offensive cyber operations may also ryone, simply by going online. There, be conducted for financial gain. These In the years ahead, it will be important we visit computers that offer us services cyber-attacks may be carried out to for the Norwegian Armed Forces to re- for online banking and shopping and alter or destroy data and to sabotage cruit and develop at the same pace. Re- of course entertainment. They may be physical processes run by computers. search must contribute with technology located thousands of kilometres away, The sabotage of the Ukrainian power grid and ideas on how cyber operations will but ICT can bring you there at a pheno- and the Iranian uranium enrichment site fit with the Norwegian Armed Forces’ menal speed. We are surrounded by are known examples. Offensive cyber other use of force. Research must also cyberspace. Much of what takes place operations occur all over the world. They contribute by enabling long-term plan- on computers is interlinked. are also carried out in a very large scope. ning for cyber capabilities, in the same manner as new tanks or vessels. Among Cyber operations involve states’ data Defensive cyber operations entails de- other things, FFI researchers have stu- breaches, or the handling of imminent fence against cyber-attacks. This may re- died how security incidents in civil or detected data breaches. This is typi- semble the handling of data breaches by networks have been managed. This oc- cally carried out by intelligence and civil undertakings. It involves the safegu- curred in connection with a case where security services, or by military forces. arding and protection of political and mi- unauthorised persons hacked into the NATO distinguishes between offensive litary targets. Sabotage may make it more networks of the South-Easter Norway and defensive cyber operations. difficult for the Norwegian Armed Forces Regional Health Authority and County to do its job, perhaps at the most crucial Governor offices. Offensive cyber operations are condu- time. If the Armed Forces are subjected cted primarily to obtain information to cyber-attacks during an armed conflict, Cyberspace is also used in influence cam- considered to be of value for internatio- it may necessitate changes in ICT and the paigns. FFI has initiated a project called nal politics or military operations. One way the Armed Forces engages in combat. Cyber-Social Propaganda and Influence. well-known example is the data breach Defensive cyber operations therefore This is occurring in collaboration with of the Norwegian Parliament’s email require an understanding of the relations- the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry systems. In autumn 2020, the Ministry hip between the technology and military of Justice and Public Security.

FFI 75 years 87 WHERE IS FFI HEADING? / Innovation

ICE WORX SOLVES PROBLEMS FASTER

The Norwegian Armed Forces need special requirements for equipment ably under demanding conditions, such equipment that addresses new opera- and personnel. Suitable solutions are as those of a combat environment. The tional needs. Much of this equipment not always available on the open market. shorter the development time, the bet- can be developed with the use of exist- Norway must therefore develop some of ter. A high level of trust is essential, ing civil technology. This is the starting this materiel on its own. The ICE worx with few formal barriers between the point for ICE worx. acronym reflects the arctic region. The participants of the triangular collabo- centre’s ambition is to improve Nor- ration. Experimentation is necessary Ice worx is FFI’s innovation centre for way’s ability to develop technology near in order for projects to proceed quickly. the defence sector. ‘ICE’ is an acronym its users. This involves technology that Such experiments may occur with exist- for the Centre for Innovation, Concept is adapted to demanding climate and ing technical solutions, or solutions development and Experimentation. topographic conditions. that are nearly ready. These will then The centre is based on the Norwegian be adapted for use in military operat- triaxial model, where the Norwegian That path from needs to solutions that ions. This is why ICE worx uses several Armed Forces, the industry and FFI all offer a better operational effect will be systems, both those created by FFI, and collaborate closely. shortened. This will take place through systems and technology offered by Nor- the rapid development of proto- wegian industrial companies. ICE worx is a meeting place. Those who types, experimentation together with have needs can meet those who have end users and recurring development One of the goals is to test frequently and possible solutions. Personnel at the processes. One important principle for a lot. ICE worx has therefore establis- centre manage innovation projects with ICE worx is that the goal for a new in- hed arenas for innovation near military several participants: FFI researchers vention or technology is never attained sites. In these arenas, all preparations and engineers from the industry work until the solution is actually implemen- have been made. Everything will be in together with soldiers from the Nor- ted and benefitting users in the Norwe- place for researchers and engineers. wegian Armed Forces. Together, they gian Armed Forces. This means that ICE worx makes it eas- can build systems that are functional in ier for users to participate in innovation demanding Norwegian conditions. The key to good results is to work close- and development.  ly with the military. Testing and seeing Norway is NATO in the North. Military the new solutions utilised in a familiar operations in the northern regions have environment is an advantage, prefer-

88 FFI 75 years Sensors / WHERE IS FFI HEADING?

HOW TO FILTER IMPRESSIONS?

How can soldiers and officers gain the to manage this task, we need techno- In this way, just a few soldiers can best possible overview of what is hap- logical solutions to enable personnel to efficiently operate many sensors. pening? manage vast areas through remote-con- FFI collaborates with several indus- trolled sensors. Just as the Norwegian try companies with the aim of crea- Imagine if you had eyes and ears every- Public Roads Administration uses cam- ting good solutions for these inter- where, in every town and village across eras to monitor our roads, the Norwe- actions. In order to protect the na- the country. You would have access to gian Armed Forces uses its systems to tion, the Norwegian Armed Forces an incredible amount of information. monitor the sea and land. There is no must also work together with other In fact, you would have so much infor- point in having thousands of cameras agencies that contribute to societal mation, it would be impossible to keep if we need thousands of people doing security. This may mean, for instance, track of it all. the monitoring to form a comprehen- that the police, Norwegian Customs sive picture. This would become far too and the Norwegian Coastal Admini- In Norway, the Armed Forces has a for- expensive. Cameras and sensors must stration work together with the Norwe- midable task of monitoring and tracking instead be connected in networks. They gian Armed Forces and that they share everything happening at sea and have to be ‘smart’, so that they alert us their sensors and incidents with one throughout our vast country. In order to anything out of the ordinary. another. 

THE PROBLEM WITH DRONES

During a demonstration at the Rena base in 2020, FFI researchers demonstrated how an operation with many types of sensors may look in practice. Data from different cameras, radars, microphones and other sensors were linked together, with the aim of providing personnel with a good understanding of the situation. The problem that researchers must solve is to get such sensors This exercise allowed researchers to show how several drones to cooperate and ‘talk’ with each other. In this way, they can and unmanned vehicles could be used as advanced sensors gain a better understanding of the situation, based on the infor a combat vehicle. In the control room, operators had a 3D formation from all single sensors. The goal is to block out noise map of the landscape. On the screen, the forest and moors for operators, while also gaining useful information. fused together as though it was a colourful computer game. This was not accidental. The game Starcraft was the inspiration This field of research is called sensor fusion. It is one of the for FFI researcher Aleksander Simonsen, when programming major unsolved problems in the field of artificial intelligence. the user interface. Sensor fusion is what Tesla and others struggle with in their self-driving cars. The key word is speed. It involves finding a During this demonstration, a smaller swarm of drones was used way to present sensor information, such that the system or to carry thermal cameras. This type of equipment can detect operators are quickly able to understand what is happening – heat waves from vehicles and people. The cameras do not and then react appropriately to the potential threat. This entails rely on good lighting. In theory, drones can also be equipped finding a way to present sensor information in a manner that with sensors that detect radio signals, radar waves and other enables the system or operators to quickly understand what is electromagnetic signals from things that happen on the ground. happening – and then to react appropriately to a potential threat.

FFI 75 years 89 The Mars rover Perseverance was assem- bled at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. At the top of the photo is the rocket module that transported the rover across the last stretch down to the surface of Mars. Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech

90 FFI 75 years SPACE SCOUTS

The secrets of space will soon be fewer. FFI instruments are already circling Saturn. In 2021, the ground-penetrating radar RIMFAX is investigating the subsurface of Mars. An equally important task is to detect ships hiding in Norwegian waters.

How is it possible to monitor shipping – be turned off. Fortunately, other signals as this little device in space, hundreds of including vessels that do not want to be from ships can provide a more complete kilometres above fishing poachers and monitored? NorSat-3 will be launched in picture, for instance, the ship’s own radar, government actors. the spring of 2021. This small satellite is which the NorSat-3 can track. equipped with a radar detector. FFI has These positive experiences with AIS- developed a technology that in principle POLAR ORBIT Sat-1 led to the construction of its twin, makes it possible to see and follow all ships The overview of shipping in Norwegian the AISSat-2. It was launched on 8 July with their radar switched on. No one will waters, around Svalbard and the rest of the 2014. A third satellite, the AISSat-3 was be able to sail unseen when manoeuvring Arctic, including the Northeast Passage, lost during a failed launch from Russia in through the two million square kilometre is better than it has ever been. November 2017. area of Norwegian territorial waters. Norwegian microsatellite orbits are uni- When a satellite is sent up into orbit and NorSat-3 won’t win any beauty contests. que. They do not circle at the equator, is hopefully useful for many years, it is However, it’s what is inside that matters. but rather around the North Pole. These essential that it carries several tools: Nor- This satellite is yet another advanced pass near the North Pole 15 times a day, Sat-1 has a Swiss solar instrument and surveillance instrument from a research at a height of 600 kilometres. Once they Norwegian Langmuir probes for studying community that specialises in these. are within range of Vardø or Svalbard, the Northern Lights. NorSat-2 is testing new data is downloaded to these stations. VDES – a new international standard for Norway’s first microsatellite was the AIS- In the 1990s, FFI showed how ships and testing two-way communication at sea. Sat-1. It was launched in 2010, with an oil spills could be detected from space. Both were launched in the summer of 2017. Automatic Identification System receiver The institute was a driving force for the (AIS) on board. The receiver detects an- utilisation of this technology. It was not FERDINAND INITIATED NORWEGIAN ti-collision signals from ships. The aim is too difficult to argue in favour of this: One SPACE AGE to improve safety at sea. In this case, larger of the first satellite images showed more The Norwegian space age began long be- ships exchange data regarding position, than 40 foreign trawlers fishing in the fore. On 18 August 1962, the civil research course and speed. However, not all vessels ‘Loophole’ in the Barents Sea, close to the rocket Ferdinand 1 was launched from are willing to share their movements. borders of Norwegian zones. Even with a Andenes on Andøya. The launch took Technical issues and deliberate deception hundred coastguard vessels, these would place from the newly established rocket may both be involved: AIS transmitters can not have had the same monitoring capacity range at Oksebåsen (Bull Base), hence

FFI 75 years 91 the name of the rocket. The work on the the Saturn journey. The launch took place rocket range began in 1960, just three years in October 1997. In 2004, the probe arri- after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. ved at the solar system’s sixth and second FFI and the Royal Norwegian Council for largest planet. There, it began orbiting Is there life on Mars? Scientific and Industrial Research took the planet, after passing close to Venus, sings David Bowie. the initiative jointly. Earth and Jupiter, to increase its speed toward its target. The satellite sends data RIMFAX may help Andøya still has the northernmost per- on the complex magnetosphere around answer that question. manent rocket range in the world, on the Saturn and its many moons, of which 82 69th parallel north. There were many have so far been discovered. good reasons for choosing this site: The island is located in a zone with the most The Huygens probe had a spectacular frequent appearance of Northern Lights. landing on the moon of Titan, with a The sea around the island never freezes video recorded on its descent. Although and provides an enormous catchment area the FFI group did not have instruments for the rockets. Researchers can therefore on the Huygens, they were involved in choose many different rocket trajectories. the planning of the probe. This included It is also easy for both Norwegian and planning of the instruments on board international research communities to that would study the waves and turbu- access the site. lence in the atmosphere around Titan. An electron spectrometer, developed in FROM ANDØYA TO SATURN part by FFI, went along on the journey. Ferdinand was part of FFI’s ionosphere This was built on another instrument research, a field that FFI began studying that was developed into the ESA Clus- as early as 1946. The ionosphere is the part ter mission: Four satellites in coordina- of the atmosphere that has electrically ted orbits that studied the interactions charged particles, from 80 kilometres between the solar wind and the Earth’s above the planet’s surface. magnetosphere. This included a device that allowed researchers to experiment Over time, the ‘ionosphere’ group changed with unwanted electrical charges of the its name to the more descriptive 'space spacecraft. This improved measurements physics' group. Researchers here were by the electron spectrometer and other involved in a large share of the well over plasma instruments. 100 research rockets that were launched from Oksebåsen. FFI was behind the very BOWIE SINGS, RIMFAX SEARCHES first lidar instrument on a rocket. Lidar FFI’s list of space projects and partners is an optic, remote sensing method based grows longer each year. At the top of the on lasers. list during the 2021 anniversary year is the ground-penetrating radar, RIMFAX. Gradually, researchers have moved furth- The name stands for Radar Imager for er out into space. FFI researchers were Mars' Subsurface Experiment. It is also a involved in the major Cassini/Huygens word play on Norse mythology: Rimfakse Mission. This brought the institute’s work is the horse that the night rides across all the way to Saturn. the sky. Morning dew is what drips from Rimfakse’s bit. The name can be translated The dates alone describe the adventure of as "frost from the muzzle".

92 FFI 75 years 01

01 The FFI-developed radar detector for NorSat-3 will provide an even better overview of the shipping in Norwegian waters – including traffic that does not want to be detected. Photo: Norsk Romsenter / UTIAS / AdobeStock

02 The ground penetrating radar RIMFAX is comprised of an antenna and a gold-plated box. The box contains the technology that enables it to ‘see’ what is hiding beneath the surface of Mars. Photo: Lars Aarønæs / FFI

"The bestselling show: Is there life on soil and ice and to locate groundwater. Mars?" sings David Bowie. RIMFAX may help answer that question. The antenna FFI developed ground-penetrating ra- and the anonymous, gold-plated box is dars of this type to enable the Norwegian THE EARTH’S one of seven instruments mounted on Armed Forces to ‘see’ through walls and NASA’s Mars rover, Perseverance. The beneath the ground. Areas of use include SENTRIES rover landed in February 2021, after a the detection of buried mines. The same journey that began in summer 2020. type of technology is used in archaeology, The word ‘satellite’ comes from the As soon as the instruments were ready, and to study avalanches. FFI has also Latin word ‘satelles’, meaning ‘atten- RIMFAX began sending data – not from studied the use of this type of ultra-bro- dant’. Satellites come in many sizes. The largest has a mass of more than Earth, but from Mars. Earlier studies of the adband radars for medical purposes, for one tonne. It is common to catego- planet have identified minerals that can instance, in providing images of the heart. rise them by weight. The category only be formed in water. An important goal 'small satellite' has a mass of less is to find sedimentary layers that might BROAD COLLABORATION, than 500 kilos. Minisatellites have a have supported past life. RIMFAX enables NEW QUESTIONS mass less than 250 kilos, microsatel- researchers to get an idea of the basic RIMFAX is typical of FFI’s work on lites are less than 50 kilos, and nano- conditions of the ground under the rover. space research, as it is a broad-reaching satellite are less than 10 kilos. The This will provide important information project: FFI has collaborated with the Soviet Sputnik was the first satellite. on areas of interest for further study. Norwegian Space Agency, Kongsberg Among the 9000 satellites that have Norspace AS, Bitvis AS and Comrod AS since been launched, around 2000 RIMFAX is a Ground Penetrating Radar on the construction of this instrument. are still in operation. The remaining (GPR). It takes pictures of Mars geology satellites have either fallen back to several metres below the surface. This is FFI has made many visits to space since Earth or they are in orbit around the done by sending electromagnetic radio 1962. The institute has many more invita- Earth as space debris. waves. The radar then reads the reflect- tions. This results in fewer secrets, while ed signals. GPR is often used on our research also leads to new and bigger own planet in order to study layers of questions. 

FFI 75 years 93 Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI THE VIRUS HUNT

How do viruses spread? Researchers Kari Bøifot and Jostein Gohli collect and measure air particles at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. This biological material is brought back to the lab for analysis. 01 Filter particles from air are collected and placed in test tubes.

02 Surface samples are registered with metadata such as the date, time, temperature, air moisture, the object from which the sample was taken and surface material.

03 Researchers have cleared customs in the arrival hall and will now be heading to the security area at Oslo Airport.

01 Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI

Is there corona here? Jostein Gohli is one of FFI’s speci- the air. They also use an air sampler. Air particles are collec- alists in environmental monitoring. The senior researcher ted and brought back to the laboratory for study. At the out- became the head of the NorCov2 project in 2020, after the patient test clinic for COVID-19 at Ullevål Hospital, air sam- outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. ples are collected in distances of one metre, two metres and aerosol distance from patients diagnosed with COVID-19. In their research on COVID-19, he and his colleagues have Aerosol distance is so far away from the patient that droplet collected samples from the Metro station and Metro cars and transmission is not possible. The study involves potential from Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. The researchers have also virus particles that hover in the air over a longer period. collected samples from various types of surfaces. They have also collected many samples from hospitals, including patient "Aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is a highly debated rooms. The goal has been to examine environmental exposure topic that we wish to highlight. The work in the outpatient for healthcare workers. Results of the project will be published test clinic can provide important answers in this debate", in scientific journals and communicated to participants. says the FFI researcher.

"Our follow-up work will show how effective our monitoring This research will also be useful in a potential war situ- has been in Metro stations and airport environments. We ation, where a virus or biological weapons may conceivably will be obtaining information from hospitals on the amount be disseminated during the conflict or as an act of terrorism. of virus particles in the air, as a function of the distance to the patient. We will also be looking at certain treatment methods Gohli concludes: at hospitals and how these affect the amount of viral particles in the air", says Gohli. "It is important for us to harness this opportunity. Not only to contribute to the knowledge base around SARS-CoV-2 but Researchers use a particle counter that measures aerosol also to understand the limitations and benefits of techno- concentration, or the number of particles of different sizes in logies used for monitoring biological threats in general".

96 FFI 75 years 02

NEW VIRUSES AHEAD

The coronavirus pandemic that arose in 2020 will not be the last of its sort. Research performed on COVID-19 is also important to learn how to deal with future outbreaks of infectious diseases.

All experts agree that there will be new viral pandemics. The only question is when. An important part of FFI’s research project is to develop testing methods for detecting viruses in environments where people congregate, in order to prepare for future pandemics and outbreaks.

FFI 75 years 97 PHOTO WALK MOMENTS OF HISTORY

At the beginning, the research institute consisted of only a few dozen researchers, distributed across many different sites. Already then, some people were keen on photographing the activities at FFI. Join us on this photo walk!

98 FFI 75 years Photo: FFI Photo:

1947

The researchers move in

FFI was established by Parliamentary resolution on 11 April 1946. A year later, researchers and engineers moved into the buildings abandoned by the Germans, on what were farmlands at Kjeller. Luftwaffe had their combat medical training here. The building in the photo still houses many FFI researchers, and the field behind it is still being ploughed today.

FFI 75 years 99 Photo: FFI Photo:

1952

At first, the institute was only known as FF, as depicted here on the gate post. Today, the abbreviation is FFI. The colocation at Kjeller in Lillestrøm was initiated when the institute, in 1947, took over two buildings that had been used by the Kjeller Aircraft Factory as a storage area after the war had ended. The Physics Division was the first to move in. From 1949, the main portion of FFI’s research was gathered at Kjeller, although its secretariat remained in Oslo.

100 FFI 75 years Photo: FFI Photo:

1954

Hello?

Haakon Sørbye is testing FFI’s microwave links between several Norwegian cities. Building good telecommunications was a priority. Industrial production and export followed in the aftermath. On the right is Director of Research Sture Koch. The man to the left is unknown.

FFI 75 years 101 Photo: FFI Photo:

1954

Gardening

Personnel, wearing white lab coats, find time for a little gardening on FFI’s arable land. In the mid-1950s, FFI’s budgets were relatively small, although the number of employees had increased to nearly 300 by 1955. In 1962, there were 400 employees and by 1968, the number had surpassed 500.

102 FFI 75 years Photo: FFI Photo:

1958

Digital Frederic

Harald Keilhau in front of FFI’s first digital computer, with 2000 vacuum tubes and 20kW heat loss. Ferranti Rapid Electronic Defence Research Institute Computer (Frederic) represented a breakthrough in researchers’ ability to solve complex mathematical problems. They had previously used electromechanical machines. Frederic was Europe’s most advanced computer. It was smuggled in as diplomatic mail to avoid additional fees.

FFI 75 years 103 Photo: Bjørn Braaten / FFI Bjørn Braaten Photo:

1962

Hipp, hipp!

Egil Eriksen ‘test rides’ a Nike Cajun rocket. The rocket was then given an instrument section at the front and became Norway’s first research rocket, Ferdinand 1. It was launched from Oksebåsen rocket range on Andøya, that FFI had worked to establish.

104 FFI 75 years Photo: Oddvar Smith / FFI Photo:

1963

Photographs from the new premises

FFI has always focused on ensuring visual documentation of its research, including high-speed recordings of rocket launches and gallery photos of technical devices. These photographs were placed in a new photo laboratory in 1963. On the left is Teddy Larsen, Bjørn Braaten and Bjørn Fremstad, who was then a photo assistant in training. Learn more about Bjørn on page 118.

FFI 75 years 105 Photo: Bjørn Braaten / FFI Bjørn Braaten Photo:

1967

Glass blower

The small detector element in the Penguin missile, that registers heat waves, had to be kept cool to avoid internal noise. The solution was to place the element in a small glass thermos. A vacuum in the thermos was necessary to avoid condensation upon cooling. Liquid nitrogen (-196°C) was used to cool the detector element. Jan Knudsen was FFI’s in-house glassblower. He created the small thermoses and solved many difficult problems.

106 FFI 75 years Photo: Bjørn Fremstad / FFI Bjørn Fremstad Photo:

1978

Before Yr (Norwegian weather service)

FFI had its own local weather radar long before weather services such as Yr became a public service. This radar was developed for field artillery. Here, Georg W. Rosenberg is busy with its operation. The attire was appropriate for the era but perhaps not for the cold north wind that often blew at Kjeller.

FFI 75 years 107 Photo: Bjørn Braaten / FFI Bjørn Braaten Photo:

1980

Calculating machine with unheard of performance

The multiprocessor, Martinus, had 30 single processors and a miniature machine from Norsk Data that operated everything. This fast-calculating machine was intended to perform highly advanced signal processing and was placed at a site in Northern Norway. Both the hardware and software elements exceeded the system’s boundaries.

108 FFI 75 years Photo: Bjørn Fremstad / FFI Bjørn Fremstad Photo:

1991

Protection from the cold for wounded in the field

For many years, FFI worked on charcoal-based stoves and heaters. One example is the patient warmer, which together with the patient bag were to prevent a wounded person from developing complicated frostbite on their arms and legs. This little incinerator had a fan that effectively supplied plastic hoses with warm air.

FFI 75 years 109 Photo: Bjørn Fremstad / FFI Bjørn Fremstad Photo:

1998

Runways are repaired

FFI has constructed a special vehicle: A repurposed Moxy dumper clears and repairs runways. The vehicle has a prototype for a remote-controlled Vinghøg weapons station and an armoured clearing plough that was developed and built at FFI. Later, this plough was mass-produced at Gjerstad Mekaniske Verksted.

110 FFI 75 years Photo: FFI Photo:

2006

Power nap

During a field test on Andøya, FFI researchers direct instrumented infrared missile seekers at planes and helicopters. The plane shoots out flares resembling fireworks to try to trick the missile seekers to steer toward them instead of the plane. Researchers check their instruments to see whether or not the missile seekers have been tricked. This was an early test and not much of the equipment they had constructed was functioning as it should. Therefore, they worked day and night to make things work. Everyone was tired and engineer Egil Bernt Austrheim uses this opportunity to take a power nap, while a P-3 Orion aircraft makes a low pass above him.

FFI 75 years 111 Photo: Christian Tandberg / FFI ChristianPhoto: Tandberg

2012

Optic sensors

Researcher Daniela Heinrich uses optic sensors to test the properties of a new camouflage smoke screens. This was one component of the testing of a new type of smoke grenade. Military smoke grenades are manufactured for various purposes: To create signal smoke, mark targets or landing zones, or to provide a smoke screen when moving.

112 FFI 75 years Photo: Jan Olav Langseth / FFI Jan Olav Photo:

2014

The music stops

Researcher Tor Holmboe turns off the torch and the music stops! At the Oslo Science Expo at Universitetsplassen, FFI shows how it is possible to send music through the light from a torch. Children have the chance to make their own torches. Through the Oslo Science Expo, FFI seeks to stimulate curiosity among children and youth for natural sciences, technology and research.

FFI 75 years 113 Photo: Wenche Gerhardsen / FFI Gerhardsen Wenche Photo:

2014

Old gas

When the AGA gas company needed help to find out what type of old gas they had received, FFI was there to assist. Together with Oslo Fire and Rescue Service (OBRE), four FFI researchers studied the contents of the last tanks from a shipment of unidentified gas tanks that were to be destroyed. FFI researcher Fatima Ibsen checks the results of the first tests while OBRE waits to assist the researchers with the next test sample.

114 FFI 75 years Photo: Grethe Skaugvoll / FFI Skaugvoll Grethe Photo:

2015

Radar to Mars

Researcher Mats Øyan tests a prototype of the Ground-penetrating Radar Imager for Mars Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) on Svalbard. RIMFAX is installed on the Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021. Mars is a cold and dry planet and Svalbard is well-suited for this type of test, due to its glaciers. RIMFAX searches underground to help determine the type of geology it traverses. This may enable it to find sites on Mars where there may have been water.

FFI 75 years 115 Photo: Tina Hay Iversen / FFI Iversen Hay Tina Photo:

2018

Haakon and Olav

Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway examines FFI’s autonomous vehicle Olav (Offroad Light Autonomus Vehicle). This visit is part of a tour arranged by Kjeller Innovation. The environment in and around FFI has contributed to the start-up and development of many companies.

116 FFI 75 years Photo: Espen Hofoss / FFI Hofoss Espen Photo:

2021

Sensor Wolf

Headless Freke is named after one of Odin’s two wolves. This four-legged robot from Boston Dynamics is part of the research conducted by FFI on drones and unmanned vehicles. Can Freke become part of a flock dispatched to provide soldiers with vital information about their environment? Could he ride in an unmanned tank and then move into buildings and environments that others are unable to access? This is what Tønnes Frostad Nygaard (photo) and his research colleagues want to know. Auto- nomy combined with advanced sensors is becoming increasingly important for the Norwegian Armed Forces.

FFI 75 years 117 Photo: Espen Wang-Naveen / FFI Wang-Naveen Espen Photo:

118 FFI 75 years PHOTOGRAPHER The images I will never forget

Bjørn Fremstad began as a trainee photographer with FFI at Kjeller in 1960, 15 years old. Many hundreds of thousands of photos later, he has become a part of its history himself.

One photograph shows him hanging in a "It was all prepared in advance and I was harness out of the door of a Bell military far away. The challenge with such assign- helicopter. It is flying a hundred metres ments was that you might become really above the ground at Hjerkinn. The heli- seasick. I was lowered by helicopter to copter is hovering in place. Grenades are rig my photo equipment in the discarded exploding beneath them. Bjørn Fremstad’s vehicle that was going to be shot. This job is to film the grenade fragments from was outside Andøya and there are usually above. some strong winds. When I got aboard, we were moving so much that I was scarcely "If we were afraid of being hit? No, they able to manage it". had clearly aimed correctly. We knew that the grenades would be shot low, or I BJØRN FREMSTAD Bjørn Fremstad looks back on his career wouldn’t be sitting here today. It was fun as a continuous learning period, from FFI photograph from 1960 to get out of the office", says the photo- the technical 4 x 5-inch cameras, to his grapher dryly. Born in 1945. Still working at FFI in 2021, mechanical Rolleiflex, Leica and Hassel- on pensioner terms, with the digitalisation blad, up until his use of digital equipment. BORN IN THE YEAR OF PEACE and cataloguing of photos and videos from his career. Enjoys sailing, shooting SPECIAL EQUIPMENT The man who was born in the year of peace, and fly fishing. Occasionally spotted 1945, has been involved in a lot of war- with an accordion. A lot of equipment had to be specially like activities. In one of the other photos constructed at FFI, or he had to play de- in FFI’s massive archives, he snapped a tective on the global market. In Australia, picture of a Penguin missile in flight, just he found six specially built high-speed one millisecond before it blew a discarded cameras with fisheye lenses for filming military vehicle to shreds. target vessels. These were well-suited for the missile tests.

FFI 75 years 119 Neil Armstrong (left), the first man on the Moon, together with FFI researcher Olav Blichner at Spåtind. The photographer received an autograph. Photo: Bjørn Fremstad / FFI

The story behind the photo is usually more important to me than the photo itself.

on the wingtips. Power for the equipment a photo of them at the Spåtind Mountain No photo assignment was impossible. was sourced from the navigation lights. Hotel in 1973, four years after the Moon Some of them just had to be improvised. Pilots were given a special control panel landing. Norway was hosting a NATO In collaboration with the Norwegian Air and it was triggered at exactly the right meeting specifically regarding space re- Force he was able to repurpose a fuel tank moment. This was crucial, as the film search. I don’t think any of the media for the F-5. This became a platform for rolls lasted only four seconds. Thus, the outlets knew who was visiting. Armstrong photo and telemetry, installed under the researchers could see precisely when the was a quiet, pleasant man. I must admit, I belly of an F-16. Behind the windows of Penguin rockets were launched", says did ask for his autograph. He wrote it on this tank, they placed several high-speed Fremstad. the back of a Spåtind postcard". cameras. They took up to 3000 pictures per second. There was room for two more TWO MEN AT SPÅTIND Have you ever forgotten to put film cameras on the wings, one on each side: His photo of two men walking toward the in your camera? camera was taken in quieter surroundings. "Only once, fortunately". "Researcher Asbjørn Oddan, who mostly worked with chemistry and explosives, was "One of the men is Neil Armstrong, the What is the best photo you have ever a technical genius. He had an idea, which first man on the Moon. The other is his captured? the Fellesverksted (Common workshop) good friend Olav Blichner, one of FFI’s "Impossible to say. There have been so decided to employ: They created new experts in aerodynamics and an important many great images. The story behind the ‘camera noses’ for the Sidewinder missiles researcher on the Penguin Project. I shot photo is usually more important to me than the photo itself". 

120 FFI 75 years 01 01 FFI’s photographer and Captain Rudolf Holm at Rygge airbase have prepared their high-speed cameras, both in the tank below the body and on the wingtips of the F-16 aircraft. This will capture the launch of the white Penguin MK3 missile. Photo: Norwegian Armed Forces

02 The wide-angle camera is properly rigged. It will capture an image of the missile one millisecond before it hits the target vessel. Photo: Bjørn Fremstad / FFI

03 Waves splash against the hull of the MTB P990 Skarv, photographed from the logistics vessel Valkyrien on a sunny day in Vestfjorden in 2001. Photo: Bjørn Fremstad / FFI

04 Fashionable: Bjørn Fremstad films at Hjerkinn in the 1980s. Photo: Norwegian Armed Forces

05 Always ready for a flight: Bjørn Fremstad in front 02 of the Armed Forces’ Saab training aircraft at Kjeller. Photo: Norwegian Armed Forces

03 05

FFI 75 years 121 122 FFI 75 years THE SURPRISE A radioactive researcher in the corridor

Was there something wrong with the measuring instrument? Or was there some other reason why a desk at Kjeller began clicking?

During the Cold War, the nuclear bomb was a key topic. Blunk from 1950. This device was a type of pocket-sized Geiger Soviet nuclear testing in the atmosphere was closely monitored counter. Both the Norwegian Armed Forces and the Norwegian by Norway. Civil Defence purchased many of the three models that were manufactured. The detonation of the Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya in October 1961 was a dark event. This hydrogen bomb was the This is related to a story about Barstad’s experience with most powerful bomb ever detonated, with a thousand times the radiation sources: One researcher had a Blunk laying around – or energy than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. (See page 68). possibly a Geiger counter – on his desk at Kjeller. Suddenly, it began clicking. It was apparently just about to detect something Radioactive fallout was a real threat. FFI was strongly radioactive nearby his office. Then the signal stopped. What was involved in the measurement of fallout and alerts. Norway this? Could there be something wrong with the measurement developed expertise in this area. device?

FFI researcher Godtfred Barstad was one of the people with the No, it started clicking once more. The researcher tore open the most expertise. He spent a great deal of time developing reliable office door. In the corridor, he spotted none other than Godtfred and practical measurement devices. This made it possible for Barstad, now on his way back from an errand in another part of soldiers in the field to check local radioactivity. the building. He had nonchalantly placed a radioactive isotope in the pocket of his lab coat. The most well-known patent was for the small, handheld

FFI 75 years 123 PROFILE FEATURE / Summer intern Kristine Wiik

HOW TO AVOID AN EXPLOSION?

I have always been fond of the natural single dot out of place. After a few months, I had the chance to make a chart that sciences. I attended Roald Amundsen I was told that I had made a mistake. I indicates sensitivity of energetic mate- Upper Secondary School in Oppegård, had to fill out everything all over again. rials. I was asked to present this chart to south of Oslo. We had a physics teacher The message from FFI was clear: ‘If the the Norwegian Chemical Society’s group who was very interested in what they were clearance is not ready by your start date, for quantum chemistry and modelling at doing at NTNU. I didn’t know why, until I we will, unfortunately, have no position their annual meeting. That was exciting. saw it with my own eyes: NTNU invited us for you’. Luckily, I made it through! to an event in Trondheim, including hotel, Now, I’m in my fifth and final year as events and lectures. They called it Girl’s The reception by the group that a student at NTNU. New challenges Day. There were probably a hundred of us. works on energetic materials was great. await. My experiences from the summer I went and fell in love with the programme Everyone was so helpful. In this depart- internship at FFI will be useful. Last I and all the opportunities they showed us. ment, they study the effect of rocket fuel checked, there were no available positions and explosives. One question is how much I would be suited for at the instituted. Still, I chose to study industrial chemistry force an explosive can deliver. Another I feel my stay at Kjeller was very positive. and biotechnology. I like the theoretical question is how sensitive it is. If this ma- So, I keep checking.  aspects better than lab work. That is why terial takes a hit, or if there is a spark, how I chose to specialise in applied theoretical much would it take before it explodes? It chemistry. is important to be able to answer these questions when transporting weapons I learned about the summer internships or storing them over time. We don’t want at FFI several years ago. A post-doctoral anything bad to happen. We would like to fellow here at NTNU had worked there. have a good theoretical model for better Earlier, I had a more industrial summer predictions. The testing methods used internship with Hydro. The first time today are inadequate. You feel kind of I applied to FFI, I didn’t get in. There special when you get was a lot of competition for places. I was I never shot or exploded anything accepted the second time. while I was at FFI, though. It all involves to know things not molecular calculations. Those are done everyone knows. The application deadline was in on a screen. November and I was offered the position in December. The only condition was Much of what takes place at FFI is top that I had to have a security clearance. secret. You feel kind of special when you During the Christmas holidays, I sat get to know things not everyone knows. and tried to fill out the form, which was But my report from my summer internship nine pages long. It was very strict. Not a is not classified, fortunately. This is why

124 FFI 75 years KRISTINE WIIK (24)

Summer intern at FFI in 2020

RESIDENCE Trondheim

FIELD OF STUDY Chemistry

STUDYING AT NTNU Photo: Lars-Erik Berg Photo:

FFI 75 years 125 SUMMER INTERNSHIPS ARE AWESOME

The summer internship programme has been offered by FFI for several years. Despite the coronavirus situation, 75 students worked here in 2020, on nearly just as many projects.

Director General John-Mikal Størdal Historically, many interns have later emphasises that it is perhaps FFI’s own become employees at FFI. This makes researchers who are the most satisfied. summer internships an important arena "Students are given the chance to work for recruitment. with the researchers on many of our re- Historically, many gular projects. When anyone suggests that The institute often enables students to this programme should be less extensive, do their master’s theses at the institute interns have later there have been immediate objections. The and work on projects part-time. Univer- become employees idea is that student internships provide sum Professionals Survey 2020 asked a resource. Therefore, this is something young, working graduates in the fields at FFI. This makes we will continue to offer". of natural sciences and technology who summer internships their dream employer would be. FFI came Students who apply to FFI are young in 10th place. an important arena academics who need the experience and for recruitment. a summer job. "We are in good company. Above us are names such as Google, Equinor, Kongs- "Here, they can utilise their strong acade- berg Gruppen, Norconsult – and Sintef. I mic skills", says Senior Advisor Jan Olav am proud that we are in the top 10 in this Langseth, who has worked closely with survey for the first time. It is extremely the students during the hectic weeks of important for us to be an attractive work- their internships. place for young people", says John-Mikal Størdal. 

126 FFI 75 years Follow us on social media Photo: FFI Photo:

FFI 75 years 127 READ, SEE AND HEAR MORE ABOUT FFI

We will be celebrating our 75th anniversary throughout 2021.

You can find more stories on our web pages. See photos and videos and listen to podcasts about our research.

ffi.no/en/75

128 FFI 75 years FFI 75 years 3 2 FFI 75 years