{"id":107811,"date":"2025-09-01T22:13:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T22:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/107811\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T22:13:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T22:13:06","slug":"norway-selects-uk-type-26-frigates-under-13-5-billion-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/107811\/","title":{"rendered":"Norway selects UK Type 26 frigates under $13.5 billion plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>LONDON \u2014 Norway plans on acquiring at least five UK Type 26 Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) frigates, with an estimated price tag of \u00a310 billion ($13.5 billion) after announcing selection of the BAE Systems designed vessel on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Hailed by Oslo in a statement as the \u201clargest Norwegian defence <a href=\"https:\/\/www.regjeringen.no\/en\/aktuelt\/norway-will-acquire-british-frigates\/id3117431\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">capability investment to date<\/a>,\u201d the procurement is intended to replace Norway\u2019s legacy Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates, with the successor vessels set to be built at BAE\u2019s shipyard in Clyde, Scotland.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Norway and the UK will soon finalize a firm agreement to lock in the new buy, described by the British Ministry of Defence as its \u201cbiggest ever warship <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/boost-for-uk-growth-and-security-as-norway-selects-uk-warships-in-10-billion-partnership\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">export deal<\/a> by value.\u201d The multibillion dollar procurement is also expected to open up \u201cextensive industrial cooperation\u201d between the two European allies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am confident that the strategic partnership with the UK for purchasing, developing and operating frigates is the right decision,\u201d added Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr St\u00f8re. \u201cThis partnership enables Norway to reach the strategic objectives our Parliament set out in the current Long-Term Plan on Defence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Oslo also shared that the future frigates are set to be delivered in 2030 and \u201cwill be as identical as possible, and have the same technical specifications,\u201d as those under construction for the Royal Navy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorway\u2019s operation of identical Type 26 ships alongside the Royal Navy hails the deepening of a long term-strategic relationship that will see a combined fleet of 13 Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates \u2013 eight British and at least five Norwegian \u2013 to detect, classify, track and defeat hostile submarines \u2013 significantly reinforcing NATO\u2019s northern flank,\u201d added the UK MoD statement. The Royal Navy vessels are scheduled to enter service between 2028 and 2035. <\/p>\n<p>Norway had <a href=\"https:\/\/breakingdefense.com\/2024\/11\/norway-puts-france-germany-uk-and-us-in-the-frame-for-future-frigate-partnership\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">previously considered<\/a> France\u2019s Defense and Intervention Frigate (FDI), Germany\u2019s F126, and the US Constellation-class as competitors for the frigate program.<\/p>\n<p>Anti-submarine helicopters are also planned to support Norway\u2019s Type 26 fleet, but Oslo is still to decide on a type after <a href=\"https:\/\/breakingdefense.com\/2022\/06\/norway-terminates-nh90-helicopter-program-with-few-good-options-for-replacement\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">terminating<\/a> a contract for NH90 rotorcraft in 2022 on account of delays, errors and excessive maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>Nick Childs, senior fellow for naval forces and maritime security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies told Breaking Defense that the \u201ckeys\u201d to the Type 26 securing Norway\u2019s approval were based specifically around Oslo\u2019s focus on anti-submarine warfare capabilities and working with a \u201cclose strategic ally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn that context, the Type 26 promises to be the global top-of-the-line ASW frigate when it enters service,\u201d he added, in a statement. \u201cAnd, while all the contenders were close strategic allies of Norway, there is probably none closer at the moment particularly on the ASW front than the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[T]here is the promise of a highly-integrated force being developed of UK and Norwegian Type 26s,\u201d said Childs, \u201cpossibly with Canada as well, and this should have both operational and sustainment benefits for both countries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the obvious strategic advantages, he pointed out that \u201ccritics\u201d have suggested that the future frigate is \u201cexpensive and other designs may have had an advantage in terms of missile capabilities and sensors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Childs\u2019 comments echo those of Norwegian Chief of Defense Gen. Eirik Kristoffersen, <a href=\"https:\/\/breakingdefense.com\/2024\/04\/norways-top-officer-on-his-biggest-challenge-next-frigate-and-new-nato-neighbors\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">who told Breaking Defense<\/a> in an April 2024 interview that whatever frigate Norway buys, it will be ordered with partnerships in mind. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes to frigates, I said that we need to do the same as with the submarines: We need to do it in close cooperation with one ally, at least,\u201d Kristoffersen said then. \u201cSo we need the same frigate as another ally. We cannot be the one user of a system, we are too small for that. I think that\u2019s also lessons learned from Ukraine, you need much more standardized platforms, much more standardized weapon systems, much more standardized data, logistics.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON \u2014 Norway plans on acquiring at least five UK Type 26 Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) frigates, with an&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[591,59,3611,57,58,51813,50,4160,52349,56,54,5476,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-107811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-europe","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-global","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-greatbritain","13":"tag-navy","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-norway","16":"tag-type-26-frigate","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-united-kingdom-uk","20":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}