Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby provides the following statement:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III signed the bilateral Supplementary Defense Cooperation Agreement (SDCA) with his Norwegian counterpart, Minister of Defence Frank Bakke-Jensen. The SDCA will help the United States and Norway continue to work together to strengthen our bilateral cooperation, enhance NATO operations, and advance transatlantic security for decades to come.
The signing of the SDCA represents an important natural progression in the decades of defense cooperation with Norway, a co-founder of NATO and steadfast Ally.
The agreement supplements the provisions of the 1951 Agreement between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty Regarding the Status of their Forces, and standardizes a robust legal framework to enhance and modernize our already deep bilateral security cooperation.