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Main export deal sustains 4,000 UK jobs together with greater than 2,000 in Scotland.
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£10 billion increase to UK economic system is anticipated to help greater than 400 British firms, delivering on the Authorities’s Plan for Change.
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Norway’s greatest ever defence procurement deal will see a mixed fleet of 13 Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates – eight British and no less than 5 Norwegian – function collectively in Northern Europe, considerably strengthening NATO’s northern flank.
Billions of kilos can be pumped into the UK economic system following Norway’s determination to pick out British warships for his or her Armed Forces – securing 1000’s of jobs in Britain for years to return.
The UK, in its greatest ever warship export deal by worth, will provide Norway with Kind 26 frigates designed for anti-submarine warfare within the deal value £10 billion introduced in the present day, a transparent instance of this Authorities is delivering on its Plan for Change.
The deal will help 4,000 jobs throughout the UK provide chain till properly into the 2030s, together with greater than 2,000 at BAE Methods’ Glasgow shipyards. The programme can also be anticipated to help 432 enterprise, together with 222 small and medium enterprises, throughout the UK together with 103 in Scotland, 47 within the North West of England and 35 within the West Midlands.
Norway’s choice of the UK’s world main Kind 26 frigates builds on many years of shut cooperation between shut NATO allies and strengthens each nations’ strategic partnership and maritime safety within the face of accelerating Russian threats in northern Europe. Each Australia and Canada have additionally chosen the design for Kind 26 for his or her Navies.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated:
This £10 billion deal is what our Plan for Change is about – creating jobs, driving development and defending nationwide safety for working individuals.
This Authorities has solid new partnerships the world over to ship for individuals at dwelling and the export of our world main Kind 26 frigates to Norway will do precisely that, supporting well-paid jobs up and down the UK, from apprentices to engineers.
This success is testomony to the 1000’s of individuals throughout the nation who will not be simply delivering this subsequent technology capabilities for our Armed Forces but additionally nationwide safety for the UK, our Norwegian companions and NATO for years to return.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Støre stated:
Norway and the UK are shut allies, with widespread pursuits and robust bilateral ties. I’m assured that the strategic partnership with the UK for buying, growing and working frigates is the proper determination. This partnership allows Norway to achieve the strategic targets our Parliament set out within the present Lengthy-Time period Plan on Defence.
Choosing the UK as a strategic associate for frigates was additionally advisable by the Chief of Defence. The selection represents a historic strengthening of the defence cooperation between our two international locations.
It has been a tough alternative. The 4 candidates, France, Germany, USA and the UK, have supplied robust and aggressive proposals. They’re all shut allies, and I want to specific my appreciation for a constructive course of and dialogue. All 4 allies are strategic companions for Norway. The intensive cooperation on safety and defence coverage will proceed at full energy with all of them.
The choice comes forward of a brand new UK-Norway defence settlement that can strengthen Euro-Atlantic safety whereas bringing the 2 international locations’ defence industries nearer collectively to spice up jobs, development, and innovation.
Norway’s operation of similar Kind 26 ships alongside the Royal Navy hails the deepening of a protracted term-strategic relationship that can see a mixed fleet of 13 Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates – eight British and no less than 5 Norwegian – to detect, classify, monitor and defeat hostile submarines – considerably reinforcing NATO’s northern flank.
This bold partnership may even cowl shared upkeep, intensive crew coaching, in-service help and personnel exchanges.
As outlined on this 12 months’s Strategic Defence Overview, Norway stays one of many United Kingdom’s most valued strategic allies, serving as the one nation collaborating within the UK Service Strike Group’s full 2025 deployment while additionally collaborating with the UK and NATO companions in safeguarding vital undersea infrastructure in Northern Europe.
Defence Secretary, John Healey MP stated:
For over 75 years, Britain and Norway have stood collectively on NATO’s northern and north-eastern frontiers, maintaining the UK and Europe secure. This historic defence deal deepens our strategic partnership.
With Norway, we are going to practice, function, deter, and – if crucial – combat collectively. Our navies will work as one, main the way in which in NATO, with this deal placing extra world-class warships within the North Atlantic to hunt Russian submarines, shield our vital infrastructure, and hold each our nations safe.
This deal confirms Britain’s defence business as world-leading. It should help 1000’s of high-skilled jobs for the following 15 years and past, driving ahead this Authorities’s Plan for Change and making defence an engine for development.
On behalf of Crew UK business companions, Charles Woodburn, Chief Government of BAE Methods, stated:
The Norwegian Authorities’s determination displays its confidence in British business’s potential to ship a superior anti-submarine warfare platform, along with programs and tools, that can help its future maritime safety and reinforce its place inside NATO.
We sit up for enjoying our half in additional strengthening the strategic partnership between the UK and Norway, as we work along with Norwegian business to ship this vital functionality to the Royal Norwegian Navy.
The Kind 26 options refined weapons, superior sensors, and cutting-edge communications, with a versatile design that allows future upgrades to counter rising threats.
