Defence secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan met with Norway’s State Secretary Tone Skogen to discuss NATO goals for North Atlantic security.
The UK and Norway are due to invest in maritime patrol aircraft as part of NATO objectives for North Atlantic security. Britain is investing £3billion in nine new Boeing P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft, with Norway investing in five.
The aircraft will work with NATO allies including Britain to protect the North Atlantic from hostile activity including enemy submarines. The meeting took place at RAF Lossiemouth and included a flight demonstration of the Poseidon P-8A.
Tone Skogen, Norwegian State Secretary, said: “The UK and Norway have a long history of cooperation on maritime surveillance and operations. This close relationship will only improve now that we will operate the same type of MPA, the P-8 Poseidon.”
“UK and Norwegian priorities are aligned in the North Atlantic, and we look forward to a close and integrated partnership in meeting common challenges within the realm of maritime security.”
The fleet will be based at RAF Lossiemouth with the first aircraft recently having been completed. The UK will also send Typhoon jets to patrol the skies over Iceland later this year as part of a NATO mission.
Poseidon P-8A aircraft are designed to look for complex undersea threats including submarines. The first of the aircraft will be handed over to the RAF in the USA later this year before arriving in Scotland where construction work is providing infrastructure for additional personnel and the new fleet ahead of its arrival.
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