• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Norway and United Kingdom sign framework agreement

Government of Norway

News story | Date: 04/09/2025

Norwegian Minister of Defence, Tore O. Sandvik, and UK Secretary of State for Defence, John Healey, met in Stavanger, to sign a new agreement. The agreement establishes the framework for the strategic partnership on maritime capabilities.

The Norwegian Government announced on 31 August that it has selected the United Kingdom as its strategic partner for the acquisition of new frigates. The Norwegian and British Type 26 frigates will be as identical as possible, and will have the same technical specifications.

'The signing of this agreement marks the start of the strategic partnership with the United Kingdom to purchase, develop and operate frigates jointly. The partnership enables us to collaborate even more closely on operations, new technology and crew training. In practice, we will have an integrated frigate fleet. The cooperation strengthens the ability of Norway, the United Kingdom and NATO to protect and monitor the maritime areas in the High North', says Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik.

The agreement establishes the framework for cooperation on i.a. sharing and joint development of technology, operation and maintenance of the frigate fleet.

Met new Navy recruits at Camp Madla

At the Madla camp in Norway, the two ministers had bilateral meetings, and also met young recruits to the Norwegian Navy.

'Here at Madla, we have met skilled personnel in the Norwegian Navy. Many of the young sailors here will continue their careers in the Navy, and they themselves will experience how the Navy becomes even more closely intertwined with British colleagues and other NATO allies. The strategic partnership on frigates is an important contribution to this', says Sandvik.

Now that the framework agreement has been concluded, the parties will begin contract negotiations with the BAE Systems. The negotiations will cover, among other things, the price and delivery schedule for the vessels. After this, the Norwegian government will present Parliament with a proposal for an investment decision.

Major economic ripple effects

In parallel, the Norwegian and UK authorities will negotiate separate industrial cooperation agreements for various collaborative projects with relevant industrial partners.

'We have learned that we are stronger together. Our partnership will be the catalyst for strengthened industrial cooperation in the decades to come. It will create opportunities and jobs for the Norwegian and British defence industries, with access to new export markets, technological collaboration, and concrete defence cooperation projects,' says Sandvik.