Going Dutch? The Value of Bilateral Defence Relationships

 

Historically the sight of a fleet of Dutch warships sailing up the Thames is a reason for panic in the UK. Over the centuries some of the more ‘uncomfortable’ moments of British naval history have occurred as a result of encounters with the supremely professional and capable vessels and sailors of the Royal Netherlands Navy. This week though four Dutch warships have visited London as friends and representatives of one of the UK’s strongest and most enduring military relationships.

While it is fashionable to focus on the UK’s links to nations like the USA and other ‘Five-Eyes’ partners, or consider how to thicken military links in the Indo-Pacific, it is worth reflecting on the strength of the relationships enjoyed with other partners much closer to home. Some of the most important defence relationships that the UK enjoys occur with partners in Europe where joint operations are vital to securing long term British strategic interests.

The publication of the ‘High North’ strategy by the MOD sets out the crucial importance of the Arctic and its surrounding regions to the UK. This document notes the importance of working closely with partners such as Norway to develop effective joint operations to ensure the security of the region against a range of complex threats and challenges. Norway is a particularly close ally of the UK, given the mutually shared interest in trying to defend the North Sea, and in monitoring a vast area of sea and airspace as well as natural resources.

The Cold War mission for the Royal Marines was to deploy to Norway to help defend it from Soviet invasion, and in the process helped the RM become a leading arctic warfare operator, able to operate and fight in the snowy wilderness of northern Norway. Lessons learned here proved of vital importance during the 1982 Falklands War, and to this day the RM, plus supporting amphibious ships and aircraft continue to spend large amounts of the year working in the bleak and unremittingly hostile arctic environment.

In the process Norway has become a close military partner, providing logistical support and facilities that help UK training, while also operating a range of shared platforms. For example Norway also operates F35 and P8 aircraft alongside the UK, which raises the opportunity for significant future cooperation in both air defence and long range maritime patrol missions, particularly in the High North.  Meanwhile the Norwegian defence industry offers a range of very capable products on the global market, and the Royal Navy has now confirmed that it is buying the Naval Strike Missile, a highly capable anti-ship and land attack  missile that will operate from the Type 23 and 45 platforms as a replacement for the venerable Harpoon missile. This bodes well for future deeper cooperation between the two nations.

This is a good example of the sort of effective defence partnership that the UK can enjoy with likeminded partners where there are shared issues of concern and common ground to work together on. The fact that the UK and Norway will be joint operators of aircraft like the P8 points to a future of increasingly effective joint ASW work in cold and remote waters, while the renewed cooperation for arctic warfare training means that the UK will not only be able to assist Norway, but also continue to maintain and expand its ability to work in this critical area. As the polar regions become of ever greater strategic interest and competition, being able to work and operate in them is of increasing importance, and being able to do so with capable allies is vital.

Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright 2023.

Another crucial ally for the UK is the Netherlands, particularly the maritime links with the Royal Netherlands Navy. Both nations have shared and very similar strategic perspectives, with a strong interest in continental security and stability in Europe, but also have a much wider international perspective (the Netherlands for example continues to have territories in the Caribbean). With both nations having capable and competent armed forces, and a political willingness to deploy them in higher risk environments, the UK-NL partnership is a good example of where joint cooperation can be extremely beneficial.

For example the UK-NL Amphibious force is now over 50 years old and represents one of the most truly integrated and effective amphibious forces in the world. Intended to be used in Norway, and now more widely able to operate around the world, the force is a good way to bring together British and Dutch forces in one organisation – this is ideal for international peacekeeping deployments, NEO’s or warfighting, when the joint nature of the force means it is easy to ‘plug and play’ together. The presence of a Dutch amphibious landing ship in the Thames this week reminds us that the RM can, and does, regularly embark onboard these ships to help practise joint operations together.

This is but one part of a close naval relationship (by contrast the Dutch air force builds close links with the US, while the Army has a close link to Germany) which is also manifested in sea training, where for over 60 years RNLN vessels have been training at FOST (over 168 Dutch ships have now been trained by this organisation) and in joint submarine work too. While the Royal Navy has never built a joint vessel design with the Dutch (despite some previous efforts), the two nations ships can, and do, work regularly together on a very effective basis. For example the RNLN sent a frigate to participate as a fully integrated part of the CSG21 deployment (HNLMS Evertsen), who brought both significant capabilities and a very professional crew to the trip. That the RN felt confident enough to fully integrate a Dutch warship into its carrier strike group speaks volumes about the strength of the relationship that exists.

There is huge value to be gained for the UK from being a peer partner to very capable armed forces like the Netherlands or Norway, because it has significantly more influence and ability to shape outcomes. While the links with the US are central too, and deeply important for UK interests, the UK will always be a ‘bit player’ in the sense that the scale of its contribution will be dwarfed by US participation. By contrast working with partners like Norway or the Netherlands results in a partnership of equals, particularly when both countries operate identical equipment at similar scales. There is real long-term value to be had from working to foster and grow links with peer partners because it can pay dividends to longer term security.

These links are the reason why the RN has deployed a number of ships into the Med and North Sea over the last few months, with no fewer than 9 vessels deploying over the autumn to conduct joint operations, defence engagement and visits to partners across the North Sea, Atlantic and Med as a means of developing and enhancing these relationships. Not only has the RN presence helped reassure NATO partners of the ongoing British commitment to European security, but it has helped deepen relationships that may pay longer term dividends.

A good example of this is the recent decision to jointly develop the next generation fighter aircraft with Japan and Italy – a move that will see the UK work equally with two different partners to bring advanced aircraft into service. All three nations enjoy the benefits of having similar strategic interests, advanced aerospace capabilities and good relationships with the USA. This means that ensuring the  release of third party technology from the US to be fitted on the platform is likely to be relatively straightforward, which in turn increases the viability of the aircraft.

For the UK the move to develop this platform is a good reminder of the value of long-term investment and engagement in defence and security globally. To get two of the worlds key economic powers to be willing to work with you to take forward this project requires a lot of effort to build credible defence relationships and develop trust to the point where nations are willing to share their most advanced science and technology with you. This cannot be done from scratch, and we should perhaps see this agreement as a good outcome from many years of shared engagement both in the Med and Indo-Pacific region, with the UK showing that it is willing to deploy into, work alongside and be seen as a peer partner. This move is a very positive development, and one that will generate long term industrial opportunities for the UK. While it may sometimes be easy to be cynical about the long term value of defence engagement, it is clear that it’s not only good to talk, but also highly profitable too…

Brought together, the UK has benefitted from being able to build and nurture a series of highly valuable defence relationships across NATO with peer allies. The result of investing time and effort in this is not only better cooperation on areas of mutual security, such as the High North, but access to high quality training opportunities (like Arctic Warfare training) and also develop links that result in high quality assets like major warships being attached to the Carrier Strike Group for global deployments. For the UK this sort of engagement generates enormous benefits, while also helping build and improve international security too. It is without doubt a ‘win win’ situation.