Norway selects British-made frigates to beef up maritime defence in $13.5 bln deal
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Norwegian warships to be built in Glasgow in £10bn deal
Warships for the Norwegian navy will be built in Glasgow in a £10 billion deal. Type 26 frigates will be constructed at the BAE Systems yard in the Govan area. It will allow a fleet of at least 13 anti-submarine ships from the UK and Norway – at least five of which will be Norwegian – to operate jointly in northern Europe. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer learned of the decision during a call with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store on Saturday night. A Downing Street spokeswoman said the decision marks an “important and historic moment for European security’
Type 26 frigates will be constructed at the BAE Systems yard in the Govan area and will allow a fleet of at least 13 anti-submarine ships from the UK and Norway – at least five of which will be Norwegian – to operate jointly in northern Europe as they look to deal with increased Russian activity.
The yard is currently building eight frigates for the Royal Navy.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer learned of the decision during a call with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store on Saturday night.
The Prime Minister learned of the decision during a call with the Norwegian premier on Saturday (Alberto Pezzall/PA)
A Downing Street spokeswoman said the decision marks an “important and historic moment for European security”.
The contract is expected to support 2,000 job at BAE in the coming years and a further 2,000 in the supply chain into the latter part of the next decade, with 103 Scottish businesses hoped to benefit.
Sir Keir said: “This £10 billion deal is what our Plan for Change is about – creating jobs, driving growth and protecting national security for working people.
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“This Government has forged new partnerships across the world to deliver for people at home and the export of our world leading Type 26 frigates to Norway will do exactly that, supporting well-paid jobs up and down the United Kingdom, from apprentices to engineers.
“This success is testament to the thousands of people across the country who are not just delivering this next generation capabilities for our armed forces, but also national security for the UK, our Norwegian partners and Nato for years to come.”
Defence Secretary John Healey said the deal “deepens our strategic partnership” with Norway.
“With Norway, we will train, operate, deter, and – if necessary – fight together,” he said.
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“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.”
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said the decision shows the “tremendous success” of Scotland’s shipbuilding industry and is an example of another “defence dividend” for the country.
Norway selects British-made frigates to beef up maritime defence in $13.5 bln deal
Norway has chosen Britain as its strategic partner for the acquisition of new frigates in its biggest ever military investment. The deal is worth some 10 billion pounds ($13.51 billion) to boost the Nordic country’s maritime defence. Germany, France, Britain and the United States had offered rival frigate designs in competition with Norway. 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. Norway is NATO’s monitor for the vast 2 million square kilometres (772,000 square miles) area of the North Atlantic used by the Russian northern fleet’s nuclear submarines. It previously said it could order five frigates, with an option for an additional one.
Item 1 of 2 Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik, and Chief of Defence General Eirik Kristoffersen speak to the media on the status of the purchase of British-made frigates, at the prime minister’s office in Oslo, Norway, August 31, 2025. NTB/Rodrigo Freitas via REUTERS
Summary
Companies Norway to buy British-made navy frigates
Deal worth 10 billion pounds, Britain says
Decision follows competition with Germany, France and US
Deal is strategic partnership to boost maritime defence
OSLO, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Norway said on Sunday it had chosen Britain as its strategic partner for the acquisition of new frigates in its biggest ever military investment, in a deal worth some 10 billion pounds ($13.51 billion) to boost the Nordic country’s maritime defence.
Germany, France, Britain and the United States had offered rival frigate designs in competition.
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“The frigates are an essential part of our defence because they are key to defend our sovereignty,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a press conference.
Norway is NATO’s monitor for the vast 2 million square kilometres (772,000 square miles) 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 he said was worth 10 billion pounds.
The deal 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 added.
British officials, seeking economies of scale for their own navy and to boost Scotland’s shipyard industry, had heavily promoted the BAE Systems’ (BAES.L) , opens new tab frigates, known as the T-26 City-class.
The deal would support 4,000 jobs across the United Kingdom, including more than 2,000 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 U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that NATO allies must bolster their own military strength.
The draft agreement with Britain also guarantees industrial cooperation 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.
($1 = 0.7402 pounds)
Reporting by Nora Buli and Terje Solsvik in Oslo; additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper in London; editing by Gwladys Fouche and Ros Russell
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Norway selects British-made frigates to beef up maritime defence in $13.5 billion deal
Norway says it has chosen Britain as its strategic partner for the acquisition of new frigates. The deal is worth some 10 billion pounds ($13.51 billion) to boost the Nordic country’s maritime defence. 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. Norway shares a border with Russia and is ramping up defence spending in light of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that NATO allies must bolster their own military strength.
Germany, France, Britain and the United States had offered rival frigate designs in competition.
By Nora Buli and Terje Solsvik OSLO (Reuters) -Norway said on Sunday it had chosen Britain as its strategic partner for the acquisition of new frigates in its biggest ever military investment, in a deal worth some 10 billion pounds ($13.51 billion) to boost the Nordic country’s maritime defence.
Norway is NATO’s monitor for the vast 2 million square kilometres (772,000 square miles) 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 he said was worth 10 billion pounds.
The deal 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 added.
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 4,000 jobs across the United Kingdom, including more than 2,000 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 U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that NATO allies must bolster their own military strength.
The draft agreement with Britain also guarantees industrial cooperation 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.
($1 = 0.7402 pounds)
(Reporting by Nora Buli and Terje Solsvik in Oslo; additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper in London; editing by Gwladys Fouche and Ros Russell)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
French Holocaust memorial defaced with ‘Free Gaza’
The words “Free Gaza” were etched into a black marble stele in Lyon. The mayor of Lyon, Gregory Doucet, and the prefect of the Rhone region, Fabienne Buccio, also spoke out. Earlier this year, five Jewish institutions were sprayed with green paint in Paris.
The words “Free Gaza” were etched into a black marble stele, according to a photo shared on social media by Yonathan Arfi, president of the CRIF, a body representing Jewish institutions in France.
Arfi described the incident late on Saturday as “despicable”, while the mayor of Lyon, Gregory Doucet, and the prefect of the Rhone region, Fabienne Buccio, also spoke out.
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In a post on X, Buccio said nothing justified the “shameful act”, and expressed her support to the Jewish community. Doucet called the incident an “intolerable act”, adding that the perpetrators would be sought and prosecuted.
Hate crimes are rising across France, including high-profile antisemitic incidents. Earlier this year, five Jewish institutions were sprayed with green paint in Paris.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently accused French President Emmanuel Macron of contributing to antisemitism by calling for international recognition of a Palestinian state, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Macron has publicly criticised antisemitism and increased security to protect synagogues and other Jewish centres in response to antisemitic incidents linked to the Gaza conflict.
(Reporting by Dominique Patton;Editing by Helen Popper)
Tourists dice with danger on Hanoi’s train street
The streets of Hanoi were once lined with drug dealers and prostitutes. The streets are now a popular tourist destination. The city is trying to make the streets safer for tourists. The area is also being used as a training ground for the city’s new police force, the NPA. The NPA is also trying to build a new airport in the city, which would be the first of its kind in the world. The new airport will be built on the site of a former military base, which was destroyed in the Second World War by a bomb blast. It is expected to be completed by the end of the year, and the city is hoping to use it as a base for the construction of new schools.
Authorities have repeatedly tried to shut down the tumbledown quarter of the Vietnamese capital for safety reasons, but any closure seems unlikely as social media brings more visitors to the area.
“I feel adrenaline because (the train) was so close,” Helena Bizonova from Slovakia told AFP, standing inches from the colonial-era locomotive chugging past at 10 kilometres (six miles) an hour.
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The lantern-adorned tracks — and the elegant cafes that line them — are well known online and “something that I will never experience in my life again”, she told AFP.
Vietnam’s French former rulers built the railway in the early 1900s to transport goods and people across the country, then part of French Indochina along with Laos and Cambodia.
Parts of the line were badly damaged when US bombs rained down on the communist-ruled north during the Vietnam War that ended half a century ago.
Vietnam now hopes to build a $67 billion high-speed railway linking north and south, in a much-needed boost to infrastructure that is expected to drive growth.
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But the state-owned Vietnam Railways Corporation still manages the old and underdeveloped metre-gauge tracks, which remain a mode of transport for budget travellers.
– ‘Cleaner, nicer and safer’ –
Similar “train streets” in Thailand and Taiwan attract thousands of tourists drawn by the rush of jumping aside when a locomotive rumbles through the throngs.
Previously in a notoriously rough part of town frequented by drug users and squatters, Hanoi’s stretch of track now offers a business opportunity for enterprising baristas.
A cafe owner who asked not to be identified said tourism had transformed the area into a “cleaner, nicer and safer place”, admonishing the efforts to shutter it.
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“We should never try to close streets down, instead, making full use of them and turning them into a distinctive feature to promote tourism,” he told AFP from his cafe festooned with Vietnamese flags.
As a red train rumbled into view, everyone in the tiny street cleared the tracks, packing into adjacent cafes and pulling their phones out to capture the scene.
The cafe staff warn visitors to make way, which reassures tourists such as Slovakian Maria Morikova.
“It is not dangerous,” she said. “They are preparing the streets for it. They are telling you strictly like you should stand by the line.”
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Vietnamese visitor Nguyen Le Trang, from the southern Mekong Delta, called the street “the one and only tourism speciality in Hanoi”, adding authorities should not close it.
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