Norway has formally joined the multinational coalition that will build and operate examples of the Type 26 warship originally developed by BAE Systems in the UK.
This will make the Royal Norwegian Navy the fourth operator of the Type 26 ships, examples of which will also be delivered to the navies of the UK, Canada and Australia.
The Type 26 ships will be classed as frigates in UK, Australian and Norwegian service while the Royal Canadian Navy will designate the vessels as destroyers.
With Norway entering the coalition, the Royal Norwegian Navy will participate in the development, production and deployment of the ships in the shared class, which will have a planned total of 34 examples in service.
The total will include 15 River-class destroyers for Canada, eight City-class frigates for the UK, six Hunter-class frigates for Australia, and five ships for Norway.
The members of the collaboration are expected to meet regularly to assess the progress of the program, which will also encompass the training of the ships' crews.