ATHENS

NATO’s new air command center is set to be built in northern Norway, Norwegian-based news outlet The Barents Observer reported on Tuesday.

The town of Bodo, located just north of the Arctic Circle and already home to the joint operation center of the country’s armed forces, will host NATO’s new Combined Air Operations Centers (CAOC), the outlet said.

Saying that the alliance already has two combined air operations centers in Europe, in Germany and Spain, it noted the decision to establish a third in northern Norway came after Sweden and Finland joined NATO over the last two years.

The center, whose construction will start as early as this year, will cost 9.4 billion Norwegian kroner ($910 million), it added.