New frigates, joint P-8 maritime aircraft patrols and more frequent anti-sabotage elite training were on the table when Norway and the UK on Thursday signed a first-of-its-kind defence agreement that will let the two navies operate side by side in the North Atlantic.

The partnership is designed to protect undersea oil and gas pipelines, as well as cables for data traffic.

Both navies will operate as one – sharing maintenance facilities, technology and equipment to create truly interchangeable forces able to deploy rapidly wherever needed, the British Ministry of Defence said in a press release.

This is the most comprehensive defence agreement in modern times, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence added as the deal was sign by Defence Secretary John Healey and his Norwegian counterpart Tore O. Sandvik at 10 Downing Street on December 4.

“The British presence in the High North plays a crucial role in safeguarding Norwegian and European security,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said after he met his British colleague Keir Starmer in London.

The two prime ministers then flew north to the Royal Airforce base Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland. It is from here British P-8 maritime patrol aircraft are operating when flying missions over the North Sea or further north over the Norwegian and Barents Seas.

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  • jenesaisquoi@feddit.orgEnglish
    19·
    6 hours ago

    Russian u-boats regularly violated Swedish territorial waters. Sweden complained to Russia increasingly persistently as the territorial violations went on. The Russians basically ignored them and continued.

    Russian u-boats also went into Finnish territorial waters. The Finns dropped depth charges on them. The Russians complained to the Finns about attacking their boats. The Finns responded by saying, oh, I’m sorry, we were having military exercises. We did not expect anyone to be in that area as that would be illegal. Please make sure you won’t go there again because we plan on continuing our exercises. Here is a map. The Russians no longer violate Finnish waters.

    What do we all learn from this? Putler is a very simple mafia thug. You don’t have civilised conversations with mafia thugs, you punch them in the face. They don’t learn any other way.

    • gian English
      8·
      5 hours ago

      Russian u-boats regularly violated Swedish territorial waters. Sweden complained to Russia increasingly persistently as the territorial violations went on. The Russians basically ignored them and continued.

      Is is not Sweden that put an underwater signal saying “this way if you are gay” to deter Russia ?

      • jenesaisquoi@feddit.orgEnglish
        9·
        5 hours ago

        A torpedo would’ve destroyed the boat. They wanted to scare them. I assume they located the u-boat precisely, then set the charges such that no serious damage would be done. The psychological effect on the crew and the show of force was the objective.

        It’s easy to talk about this in the comfortable West, but to be trapped in a tin can a hundred metres below sea, being shaken thoroughly, alarms blaring, lights flickering, while hearing deafening explosions all around you, is an experience they won’t forget quickly.