The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt – FFI) is a research institute

Research institute

A research institute is an establishment endowed for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research...

 that conducts research and development on behalf of the Norwegian Armed Forces and provides expert advice to political and military defence leaders. In particular, its task is to keep track of advances in the fields of science and military technology

Military technology

Military technology is the collection of equipment, vehicles, structures and communication systems that are designed for use in warfare. It comprises the kinds of technology that are distinctly military in nature and not civilian in application, usually because they are impractical in civilian...

 which might affect the assumptions on which Norwegian security policy and/or defence planning is based.

The institute was established in 1946, with its roots in British WWII

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 research, where many Norwegian scientists/technologists took part (their own country occupied by the Germans 1940–1945). FFI has 550 employees, of which approximately 360 are scientists and engineers. The main location of the institute is at Kjeller

Kjeller

Kjeller is located near Lillestrøm in the municipality of Skedsmo, Norway. It is located 25 kilometers north of Oslo.-The name:The Norse form of the name was probably Tjaldir. This is then the plural of tjald n 'tent'...

 near Lillestrøm

Lillestrøm

' is a city in the municipality of Skedsmo, Akershus, Norway. The municipal administration is located in Lillestrøm.Facilities in Lillestrøm include hotels, Norway trade fairs, a brand new cinema, a mall, Lillestrøm torv, restaurants, a high speed commuter train that reaches both Oslo and...

, 20 km east of the country's capital Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. The Kjeller area is a focus of research activity in south eastern Norway, with a total of some 2,400 people working at a variety of research establishments, colleges and university departments.

Part of the institute's Maritime Systems Division is situated in the coastal city of Horten

Horten

is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the villages of Borre, Åsgårdstrand, Skoppum, and Nykirke....

, southwest of Oslo on the western side of the Oslofjord

Oslofjord

The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....

. Horten is known as the country's MEMS capital, and is also a center of electronics and naval research and industry.

In way of concrete technology products, FFI is known for, among other things:

• The development of a range of computers in the early 1960s which eventually led to the creation of Norsk Data
  Norsk Data
  Norsk Data was a computer manufacturer located in Oslo, Norway. Existing from 1967 to 1992, it had its most active period in the years from the early 1970s to the late 1980s...
  
   as well as Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk (KV)
  Kongsberg Gruppen
  Kongsberg Gruppen is Norway's major defence contractor and maritime automation supplier, located in Kongsberg, a former mining town....
  
  's Computer Division:
  • LYDIA (1962)
  • SAM
  • SAM2
• The development, with KV's Division of Guided Weapons
  Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace
  Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace , one of two operating companies of Kongsberg Gruppen of Norway, is a supplier of defence and space related systems and products, mainly anti-ship missiles, military communications, and command and weapons control systems for naval vessels and air-defence applications...
  
  , of the Penguin
  Penguin missile
  The Penguin anti-ship missile , made by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace of Norway from the early 1970s and continually upgraded since, is a passive-IR seeker based short-to-medium range naval guided missile...
  
  anti-ship missile