Britain and Norway will jointly operate a frigate fleet to hunt Russian submarines and protect undersea infrastructure under a new defence pact.
LONDON: Britain and Norway have unveiled a new defence pact to jointly operate a warship fleet to “hunt Russian submarines” in the North Atlantic.
The agreement between the two NATO allies aims to protect critical undersea infrastructure, such as cables and pipelines.
Western officials say this infrastructure is increasingly under threat from Moscow.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence reports sightings of Russian vessels in UK waters have increased 30% in the past two years.
The new pact will see the navies operate a fleet of 13 British-built frigates on an “interchangeable” basis.
They will monitor Russian naval activity in the waters between Greenland, Iceland and the UK.
The MoD said the fleet is tasked with “defending critical infrastructure such as underwater cables and pipelines, which carry vital communications, electricity and gas”.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store hailed “a very important agreement on defence cooperation and integration” during talks in London.
He said the two countries were “making significant steps… because we share waters, we share the strategic environment”.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated the pact was necessary “at this time of profound global instability”.
He said, “as more Russian ships are being detected in our waters, we must work with international partners to protect our national security.”
The agreement follows growing NATO concern about the risk Moscow poses to offshore infrastructure.
This follows the suspected sabotage of several undersea telecom and power cables in recent months.
Last month, UK Defence Minister John Healey warned Russia after its military ship Yantar entered British waters.
He said it had directed lasers at British air force pilots in a “deeply dangerous” move.
Norway announced in September the purchase of at least five Type-26 frigates from Britain for £10 billion.
BAE Systems beat out competing bids from French, German and US groups for the frigate contract.
