New frigates, joint P-8 maritime aircraft patrols and more frequent anti-sabotage elite training were on the table when Norway and the UK on Thursday signed a first-of-its-kind defence agreement that will let the two navies operate side by side in the North Atlantic.
The partnership is designed to protect undersea oil and gas pipelines, as well as cables for data traffic.
Both navies will operate as one – sharing maintenance facilities, technology and equipment to create truly interchangeable forces able to deploy rapidly wherever needed, the British Ministry of Defence said in a press release.
This is the most comprehensive defence agreement in modern times, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence added as the deal was signed by Defence Secretary John Healey and his Norwegian counterpart Tore O. Sandvik at 10 Downing Street on December 4.
”The British presence in the High North plays a crucial role in safeguarding Norwegian and European security,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said after he met his British colleague Keir Starmer in London. Läs artikel