Norwegen lädt Frankreich, Deutschland, Großbritannien und die USA zu Gesprächen über eine strategische Partnerschaft für neue Fregatten für die Königlich Norwegische Marine ein

A key topic because there’s some hope that Norway will [buy Type 26 frigates](https://www.navylookout.com/will-norway-buy-type-26-frigates-built-in-britain/) – not just the design but actually have them built in Glasgow. Type 26 is already exported to Australia and Canada and adding another export would obviously be a huge win, but in defence terms an extra 5 T26s in the Norwegian Sea would be a huge benefit to the UK. [It is our frontline](https://nitter.poast.org/pic/orig/media%2FGbssiOtbYAA4s1B.jpg), far more than Eastern Europe is.

There are, as the list of nations suggests, competitors to Type 26…but the strongest was the [Dutch equivalent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Submarine_Warfare_Frigate_(Koninklijke_Marine)) and they are not listed. The [US program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation-class_frigate) would require construction in Norway which they were hoping to avoid, the [German program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F126_frigate) isn’t really ASW focused and is also pretty large but no better armed than ASWF. The other contender is the French [FTI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_and_intervention_frigate) which actually has ships in the water and is [stupidly good looking](https://www.reddit.com/r/WarshipPorn/comments/1g1gdf4/a_couple_more_photos_of_the_new_french_frigate/)

The downside is that the Norwegian desire to join an existing build program means we’d probably have to give them some of the batch of 8 under order for the Royal Navy, and build extras to replace them. If managed properly that’s still a win – particularly if a deal can be struck that lets us build extra Type 31s to fill the gaps for a while or something.