Norway has agreed to buy five new British warships in a deal worth £10bn, the Ministry of Defence has announced.
The planned purchase of the Type 26 frigates built in Glasgow comes as the two nations seek to deepen their co-operation in countering Russian operations in the seas along NATO’s eastern flank.
It is part of a plan for a fleet of at least 13 anti-submarine ships to operate jointly in northern Europe.
Defence Secretary John Healey said the deal “deepens our strategic partnership” with Norway.
“With Norway, we will train, operate, deter, and – if necessary – fight together,” he said.
There has been increasing focus on the security of undersea cables and other infrastructure as tensions around Russia’s war in Ukraine and other ambitions have persisted.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said his country needed the warships as it faces “its most serious security situation since World War Two”.
The deal is expected to support 2,000 jobs at BAE Systems in the coming years and 2,000 more in the supply chain.
