Royal Navy to Buy Three Norwegian-Designed Mine-Hunting Motherships, First Due in 2031

The UK Ministry of Defence announced on November 12 that the Royal Navy will acquire three Norwegian-designed Offshore Support Vessels to act as motherships for uncrewed mine-hunting systems, with the first ship to be delivered in 2031.

The MoD said the UK is joining Norway's P1118 Standardised Vessel Programme to obtain the ships, which are known in Norway as "standardised vessels". Delivery will run through the government-to-government Maritime Capability Partnership Framework, and the agreement includes an option for three more vessels. An additional £90 million was announced in the Defence Investment Plan for the acquisition, the ministry said.

The UK Defence Secretary and his Norwegian counterpart announced the commitment at the Atlantic Future Forum in Oslo. According to the MoD, the deal is part of the export agreement that followed Norway's £10 billion procurement of Type 26 frigates in December 2025. The ministry calls that sale the UK's biggest-ever warship export by value and says it supports 4,000 UK jobs, including more than 2,000 at BAE Systems' Glasgow shipyards.

The MoD said the new ships would make the detection and disposal of sea mines "safer, quicker and more effective". It described them as part of the Royal Navy's "Hybrid Navy" and of the modernization of its mine-hunting force, keeping sailors further from danger, and said they would also support anti-submarine warfare on NATO's northern flank.

The MoD said the sea-mine threat had been brought into sharp focus by what it called Iran's illegal mining of the Strait of Hormuz, which the ministry said has caused major disruption to global energy trade. Norway's defence minister said operating similar platforms would enhance navy-to-navy cooperation on NATO's northern flank.

Norway's Defence Materiel Agency picked Kongsberg and Salt Ship Design to design up to 28 standardised vessels, which are to replace more than ten existing classes, UK Defence Journal reported. The outlet also reported that Norway has agreed to deliver standardised vessels to Lithuania.

The Royal Navy has seven active mine-warfare ships, according to GlobalMilitary.net data. Five are Hunt-class vessels that entered service between 1981 and 1985: HMS Ledbury (1981), HMS Cattistock (1982), HMS Brocklesby (1983), HMS Middleton (1984) and HMS Hurworth (1985). The others are one Sandown-class ship, HMS Bangor (2000), and the mine-countermeasures mothership HMS Stirling Castle.

HMS Stirling Castle was commissioned in July 2025, the same data shows. Another Hunt-class ship, HMS Chiddingfold, was retired in July 2026.

The Royal Norwegian Navy has five active mine-warfare ships, according to GlobalMilitary.net data: two Alta-class minesweepers, two Oksøy-class minehunters and one mine-countermeasures command vessel. That command ship is the Nordkapp. The same data lists five Type 26 frigates on order for Norway.

The first of the three British vessels is scheduled for delivery in 2031, according to the MoD, and the option for three more remains open under the agreement.