Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Britain and Norway have signed a pact to protect the North Sea from Russian submarines, the United Kingdom government announced Thursday.
The Lunna House Agreement allows the Royal Navy and Royal Norwegian Navy to operate an interchangeable fleet of British-built Type-26 frigates. The pact is in response to a 30% increase in Russian vessels threatening U.K. waters in the past two years, the British government said.
The two countries are concerned that those vessels could threaten undersea cables. There are also oil and gas pipelines connecting Britain to Scandinavia.
U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey and Norwegian Defense Minister Tore O. Sandvik signed the agreement at 10 Downing Street Thursday.
Related
