Norway Plans to Buy 20 Standardized Naval Vessels for Three Nations
Norway has unveiled plans to procure up to 20 standardized government vessels that are designed to strengthen the capabilities of three allied nations, a development that comes amidst rising security threats - specifically from Russia. The novel procurement plan will put a Norwegian authority in charge of buying naval vessels for use by Lithuania and the UK.
The Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (FMA) said that it is looking to identify shipyards both from Norway and across Europe that could be awarded the contract for the 20 vessels. While FMA is hoping to attract interest from a wide range of yards, the agency intends to split the procurement into two separate contracts in order to foster competition, diversify its supplier base, and ensure that the program has enough capability behind it to scale up.
In the planned shipbuilding project, FMA intends to procure the 20 vessels for Norway, the UK and Lithuania. Six of the vessels will be constructed for the Norwegian Coast Guard and four of the vessels for the country’s Navy. Six vessels that will be based on the naval variant will be built for the UK and four for Lithuania.
While FMA said it intends to award the contracts in 2027 with the first delivery expected in 2030, the agency did not provide detailed specifications.
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“We have chosen to start with the large, ocean-going vessels to ensure progress while meeting the needs of our allies in the UK and Lithuania. At the same time, we will spend the necessary time on further developing the smaller vessels,” said Marte Gerhardsen, State Secretary.
The agency said that it is reaching out early in the process because it wants to provide the industrial base with early insight into the shipbuilding contract, hoping to attract broad participation from shipyards and reduce procurement risk.
