Two NATO allies have become uncommon bedfellows in the hunt for “Russian aggression” lurking in the northern Atlantic. The latest developments have spurred both nations' parliaments in a defense budget frenzy not seen since the infamous October 1981 “Whiskey on the Rocks” incident at Karlskrona, Sweden.
The United Kingdom and Norway have reached out to the US Pentagon in order to fulfill mandatory budget expenditures as required by NATO; this time by splashing some extra cash on new aircraft.
UK prime minister Theresa May confirmed on Monday that her government ordered nine Boeing P-8A Poseidons, also known as “sub-hunters”. Norway has ordered five and will operate them from Lossiemouth Royal Air Force base in northeast Scotland.
The P-8 is designed for conducting anti-submarine warfare, reconnaissance, surveillance and other forms of intelligence gathering.
UK defence secretary Gavin Williamson rallied parliamentarians to “wake up” to Russian threats and, with a high degree of confidence, asserted that alleged submarine activity in the Atlantic “shows the increasing aggression and increasing assertiveness of Russia,” the Express reported.
NATO ‘Atavism of Cold War Times', Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Says
Recently appointed UK Defence Minister Guto Bebb and Norwegian Ministry of Defence State Secretary Tone Skogen had a fireside chat aboard one of the P-8s last May to discuss how their two countries could deepen cooperation…
