Welcome to a special edition of the Brigantes Defence Podcast, recorded on location in Northern Norway.In this episode, the Brigantes team breaks down the massive strategic pivot towards High North and Arctic warfare across NATO’s northern flank. With multinational forces scaling up cold-weather readiness, shifting from temperate to extreme sub-zero environments poses significant operational, procurement, and logistical challenges.We discuss what it takes to survive, fight, and operate in these unforgiving conditions — and why the rapid uptake in Arctic capability is straining international defence supply chains.  Key Discussion Points Covered:

• The Strategic Shift North: Analysing the surge in Arctic deployments, changing NATO priorities, and the political drivers behind expanding High North operational readiness.  

• The Kit Availability Bottleneck: The reality of equipment availability, lead times, and the challenges defense procurement leads face when scaling specialized extreme-cold kit.

• Operate, Survive and Fight: Why standard winter kit fails in sub-zero theatres — exploring the critical balance between thermal efficiency, breathability, high dexterity, and moisture management.

• COTS Solutions in the Field: How fast-tracking commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) gear and rapid adaptation help bridge immediate capability gaps for units deploying into Norway and the High North.

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