Norway has chosen Britain as its strategic partner for the acquisition of new frigates in its biggest ever military investment, in a deal worth some $US13.51 billion ($A20.66 billion), to boost the Nordic country’s maritime defence.
Germany, France, Britain and the United States had offered rival frigate designs in competition.
“The frigates are an essential part of our defence because they are key to defend our sovereignty,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told reporters on Sunday.
Norway is NATO’s monitor for the vast two-million-square-kilometre area of the North Atlantic used by the Russian northern fleet’s nuclear submarines.
A key mission for the frigates will be to monitor Russian submarines, whose base is on the Kola Peninsula, an area in the Arctic bordering Norway.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the deal, which will eventually see a combined fleet of 13 anti-submarine warfare frigates – eight British and at least five Norwegian – operate jointly in northern Europe, he said.
British officials, seeking economies of scale for their own navy and to boost Scotland’s shipyard industry, had heavily promoted the BAE Systems’ frigates, known as the T-26 City-class.
The deal would support 4000 jobs across the United Kingdom, including more than 2000 in Scotland, the British government said.
Norway shares a border with Russia and is ramping up defence spending in light of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s demand that NATO allies must bolster their own military strength.
The draft agreement with Britain also guarantees industrial co-operation with Norwegian industry equivalent to the total value of the acquisition, the Norwegian government said.
Norway, a nation of 5.6 million people, currently operates four frigates.
It previously said it could order five frigates, with an option for an additional one.
“This will be the biggest purchase to date. And we are now entering final contract negotiations,” Gahr Stoere said.
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