Norway and UK Cement Anti-Submarine Alliance

The British and Norwegian Prime Ministers flew to a miraculously rain-free RAF Lossiemouth in Northern Scotland on Thursday, December 4, to cement an alliance between the two countries, which has at its heart the curbing of the growing threat posed by Russian submarines.

Norway and the UK's defense links, particularly in the maritime domain, have been much enhanced recently by the presence alongside HMS Prince of Wales (R09) of the Norwegian Nansen Class frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen (F311) from start to finish during the recently completed eight month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region, and also the invaluable support of the at-sea replenishment vessel HNoMS Maud (A530) which stepped in to compensate for a Royal Navy capability shortfall.

On August 31, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Støre announced that Norway would purchase for $13.5bn “at least five” British Type 26 frigates built by BAE for anti-submarine warfare purposes. The frigates for Norway and the UK will be built to identical specifications and operated as a joint capability. Maintenance and training facilities will be operated in common, with a new covered maintenance facility to be built in Harstad in northern Norway.

The visit to Lossiemouth was aimed at highlighting how British and Norwegian anti-submarine warfare P-8A Poseidon, based respectively at RAF Lossiemouth and Evenes in Norway's High North, will also operate together to cover the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap through which Russian Northern Fleet nuclear submarines must pass. The Norwegian and UK aircraft will also link in with US Navy P-8A aircraft operating from Keflavik in Iceland and Germany's P-8A squadron operating from the Nordholz Naval Airbase in North West Germany. The closer operational coordination comes after a 30 percent increase in detected Russian vessels threatening UK waters over the past two years.

The UK-Norwegian Lunna House Agreement, formalizing this closer relationship, builds on 70 years of partnership and was named after the location in the Shetland Islands, which was the headquarters of the Norwegian Resistance during the Second World War. The agreement was signed by Norway's Minister of Defense Tore O. Sandvik and Britain's Secretary of State for Defence John Healey in Downing Street earlier in the day.

The United Kingdom is using its diplomatic independence to build closer bespoke bilateral relationships post Brexit, whereas attempts to build a UK relationship with the European Union as a bloc have floundered in the face of disunity on a broader agreement within the European Union.

Other elements of the Lunna House Agreement cover an expansion of the Royal Marines' commitment to Norway into year-round training, building up of ammunition stocks, the UK adoption of Norwegian naval strike missiles, and collaboration on the development of Sting Ray torpedoes.