Accompanied by his Norwegian counterpart Tore O Sandvik as the two countries signed a defence pact – the Lunna House Agreement – to work together to hunt Russian submarines and protect underwater infrastructure, Healey said time was of the essence.
“It’s a rapidly evolving threat and that’s why it requires a rapid response from the UK.”
It’s a daunting challenge for the man charged with supervising Britain’s response, the First Sea Lord Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins.
So how does the UK keep up with an opponent who hasn’t declared war but is investing heavily and behaving increasingly aggressively through increasingly complex means?
“Despite the cost of the war in Ukraine to [Russia], they continue to put hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of investment into their submarine fleet,” he said.
“We’re still ahead in the Atlantic, but it’s not by as much of an advantage as I would like. We’re being pressed, and we’re definitely in the competition to stay ahead of where the Russians are.”
Others are less optimistic.
Prof Peter Roberts, an expert on contemporary conflict at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), says the Royal Navy’s new strategy looks fine on paper but “feels like putting lipstick on a pig”.
He argues the UK has “neglected” its post-World War Two responsibility to be the guardian of the western Atlantic, and now the Royal Navy is “trying to find a way to look credible” in addressing a threat that has been “steadily increasing for the past 20 years… but still ignored by the government and Navy”.
“The Royal Navy does not have the ships to do this job coherently or credibly and is looking to address it with drones as they are cheaper and can provide coverage of the geographical areas for which the Royal Navy is responsible in lieu of new ships,” Prof Roberts adds.
“Russia so far is going unchallenged in much of UK water space and this strategy is playing catch up long after the fact.”
Russia says it’s Britain that’s being provocative, even hysterical.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow that the Lunna House Agreement was being used to justify “monitoring Russian naval activity” and risked “provoking unnecessary conflicts” in international waters.
But the military says it’s clear-eyed about the dangers. And it’s working closely with industry to address them.
