New alliance with the Netherlands and Baltic and Nordic countries comes in response to 41% increase in Russian naval activity around UK
Russian naval activity around the UK has increased by 41% in the first nine months of the year, a British defence minister said, as the Royal Navy announced plans to step up a 10-country maritime defensive effort in response.
Luke Pollard, minister for defence readiness, described the figure as “a huge increase”, justifying a new drone and warship initiative from “the alliance of beer-drinking nations” – the UK, the Netherlands and the Baltic and Nordic countries.
The plan is for sea drones from the UK and other countries to be able to work interchangeably with warships from countries across the Northern Navies Initiative at a time when the number of British frigates is falling.
“The model that we want is where British autonomy [drones] can be teamed with a British warship or a Danish warship or a Norwegian warship and can hand that autonomy off to an allied nation’s warship,” Pollard said.
A future Royal Navy would combine warships and drones “because that would increase our lethality”, Pollard said, sidestepping a debate about the number of UK frigates – which could drop from 12 in 2021 to three by 2030.
