Britain and Norway have announced a new defence pact under which their navies will jointly operate a warship fleet to “hunt Russian submarines” in the North Atlantic, the UK government said.
The announcement comes as Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) reports that sightings of Russian vessels in UK waters have increased 30% in the past two years.
Norway announced in September the purchase of at least five Type-26 frigates from Britain for £10 billion ($13 billion). The announcement coincides with a visit by UK prime minister Keir Starmer and Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre to a Royal Air Force base in northern Scotland. As part of the agreement, the two countries will operate 13 British-built frigates on an “interchangeable” basis.
They will monitor Russian naval activity in the waters between Greenland, Iceland and the UK, “defending critical infrastructure such as underwater cables and pipelines, which carry vital communications, electricity and gas”, the MoD said.
Last month, UK defence minister John Healey warned Russia after saying that its military ship Yantar had entered British waters for the second time this year. He said that it had directed lasers at British air force pilots in a “deeply dangerous” move.
Politicians have accused Moscow of orchestrating a hybrid war against Western countries.
