Over the next three years, Britain will double the number of its troops in Norway to combat the growing Russian threat in the High North, writes the BBC.
British Defense Secretary John Healey informed that the number of armed forces personnel in Norway will increase from about 1,000 to 2,000. The British decision was prompted by growing concerns among NATO members about Russian activities in the Arctic. Russia has resumed the use of military bases built during the Cold War and increased its military presence in the region.
Healey said that the demand for protection is growing, and Russia poses the greatest threat to the Arctic and polar regions since the Cold War. The British Defense Secretary will join NATO colleagues on the 12th of February to discuss proposals for controlling the situation.
The Arctic Sentinel, proposed by British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, is designed to strengthen surveillance and defense of the region. It builds on existing models such as Baltic Sentinel and Eastern Sentinel.
Part of the increased NATO presence in the region will also be a military exercise planned for March,
involving around 1,500 British marines. The large-scale exercise will cover Norway, Finland and Sweden and is designed to train allied forces in Arctic conditions.
In September, a British-led force will lead an exercise involving air, land and naval forces from several European countries. During the exercise, armed forces in Norway, Iceland and the Danish Straits will train to protect critical infrastructure against attack and sabotage.
Britain and NATO are increasingly concerned about the threat Moscow poses to undersea cables and pipelines, and the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has raised tensions significantly in four years. Britain and Norway signed a defense treaty last year aimed at protecting undersea cables, and the two countries will use a combined fleet to track Russian submarines.
The British Ministry of Defense has reported that the number of Russian submarines spotted in the country’s territorial waters has increased by 30% in the past two years.
Read also: Norway sees increased Russian intelligence activity in Arctic