UK joins Norway’s mine warfare ‘mothership’ project

The UK will join Norway’s programme to develop offshore support vessels designed to deploy uncrewed minehunting and undersea-warfare systems, the Ministry of Defence stated.

The collaboration forms a central element of the new Lunna House Agreement, announced as Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Støre at RAF Lossiemouth.

According to the MOD, the agreement is intended to strengthen protection of critical North Atlantic infrastructure amid what it describes as a 30 percent rise in Russian vessels detected near UK waters over the past two years. Both governments said the pact deepens long-standing cooperation and aligns with NATO priorities.

The press release confirms the UK’s entry into Norway’s unmanned support-vessel programme, stating that the agreement will see the “UK joining Norwegian programme to develop motherships for uncrewed mine hunting and undersea warfare systems.” This sits alongside wider industrial and operational cooperation on Type 26 frigates, naval strike missiles, torpedo stockpiles and Arctic training.

Prime Minister Starmer said the agreement strengthens the UK’s defensive posture. “At this time of profound global instability, as more Russian ships are being detected in our waters, we must work with international partners to protect our national security,” he said. “This historic agreement with Norway strengthens our ability to protect our borders and the critical infrastructure our nations depend on.”

Defence Secretary John Healey spoke on the shared approach to countering Russian submarine activity. “In this new era of threat and with increasing Russian activity in the North Atlantic, our strength comes from hard power and strong alliances,” he said. “Through this Lunna House Agreement, we will patrol the North Atlantic as one, train together in the Arctic, and develop the advanced equipment that will keep our citizens safe now and into the future.”

The mothership element expands on work both navies are already pursuing. The UK is replacing traditional minehunters with autonomous mine-countermeasure systems operated from larger support vessels under its Mine Hunting Capability programme, the broader plan here will require several hulls to act as motherships.

The agreement ties these efforts together, creating shared development pathways and shared operational concepts. It also links directly to existing industrial cooperation between BAE Systems and Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, which are exploring potential support-vessel options. One candidate is the Kongsberg Vanguard concept, which offers modular bays and launch facilities suited to uncrewed underwater systems.

The MOD said the combined approach supports NATO’s broader push for autonomous capabilities in the High North and gives both navies a more persistent way to monitor seabed infrastructure, track threats and conduct mine-countermeasure operations without relying on traditional crewed platforms.