Norway has chosen the United Kingdom (U.K.) to supply five new Type 26 frigates in a £10 billion ($13.51 billion) agreement announced Sunday, marking the biggest naval procurement in both countries’ histories.
The UK won the contract over Germany, France, and the US, all of which submitted frigate designs.
Norway described the agreement as its largest “defence capability investment” to date, while the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) said it will be the country’s “biggest ever warship export deal by value.”
The ships will be built by BAE Systems in Glasgow, where the Royal Navy’s own Type 26 fleet is under construction. The contract reportedly secures 4,000 jobs, including 2,000 on the Clyde, and supports more than 400 U.K. suppliers.
“The frigates are an essential part of our defence because they are key to defend our sovereignty,” Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a press conference.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer added that the deal will “drive growth and protect national security for working people.”
The deal will establish a combined U.K.-Norwegian fleet of 13 anti-submarine frigates, eight British and five Norwegian, operating together in northern Europe and significantly bolstering NATO’s northern flank.
U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey said the U.K. would “train, operate, deter, and – if necessary – fight together” under the deal.
“Our navies will work as one, leading the way in NATO, with this deal putting more world-class warships in the North Atlantic to hunt Russian submarines, protect our critical infrastructure, and keep both our nations secure,” he added.
