The UK has secured a landmark £10 billion agreement to supply Norway with at least five Type 26 frigates, marking the largest warship export deal in British history.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the contract represents the UK’s biggest naval export by value and will safeguard around 4,000 jobs nationwide, including more than 2,000 at BAE Systems’ Glasgow shipyards. A further 400 British businesses, including 103 in Scotland, are expected to benefit from the supply chain.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the announcement as a “historic success” for UK defence manufacturing.
“This success is testament to the thousands of people across the country who are not just delivering next-generation capabilities for our Armed Forces but also national security for the UK, our Norwegian partners and Nato for years to come,” he said.
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre confirmed the decision in a call with Sir Keir, describing it as his country’s “largest defence capability investment” to date.
“Who is our most strategic partner? And who has delivered the best frigates?… The answer to both is the United Kingdom,” he said.
The frigates will be built to the same technical specifications as those being developed for the Royal Navy, designed primarily for anti-submarine warfare. Deliveries to Norway are expected to begin by 2029, while the UK continues to build its own fleet of eight Type 26s to replace the ageing Type 23 frigates.
Defence Secretary John Healey said the joint fleet would bolster NATO’s northern flank at a time of heightened security threats.
“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 said.
The decision is also a commercial victory for the UK over rival bidders France, Germany and the United States, which had all been under consideration by Oslo. Defence Minister Luke Pollard called it “the biggest British warship deal in history” and a “huge vote of confidence in British workers and the British defence industry”.
The move comes amid wider modernisation of BAE’s Clyde facilities. Earlier this year, the £300 million Janet Harvey Hall – a new “frigate factory” – was opened, capable of constructing two vessels simultaneously.
Norwegian critics, however, have questioned the choice. Tor Ivar Strømmen, a naval captain at the Norwegian Naval Academy, told broadcaster NRK that French and German frigates offered str
