Naval base in Northern Isles could be ‘invaluable’
A DEFENCE expert says a naval base in Shetland or Orkney could make sense amid increased marine activity north of the isles.
Dr David Blagden, associate professor of international security and strategy at the University of Exeter, said such a base could offer space for maintenance of Royal Navy boats or submersibles.
It comes amid a move towards a “hybrid navy”, combining traditional crewed warships with uncrewed and increasingly autonomous vessels and aircraft.
Scottish first minister John Swinney recently said waters beyond the north of Shetland have experienced “significant activity by the Russians” and suggested greater UK presence was needed.
Then UK defence secretary John Healey said in April that three Russian submarines had carried out a “covert” operation above cables and pipelines in the Atlantic, north of the UK.
There has been damage to subsea communications cables to and from Shetland in recent years, but this has been blamed on fishing vessels.
Speaking to Shetland News, Dr Blagden said any Navy vessels operating north of the UK could benefit from a support base in the Northern Isles.
Shetland previously hosted naval activity in wartime periods, while more recently Unst played host to Royal Air Force (RAF) crew. These days Britain’s most northerly island hosts a Ministry of Defence (MOD) remote radar head at Saxa Vord.
“When you look at all these discussions about this hybrid navy idea, which is going to be predominantly made of these smaller sloops and submersibles, the current thinking is they will be entirely uncrewed,” he said.
“It’s possible that they might actually end up with a few people on at least, on the surface ships, because the maintenance might end up being quite tricky with zero people onboard.
“But however they end up being operated, they’ll be quite small and quite slow, and the idea is they’ll keep them on task in the Norwegian Sea and the GIUK gap as it’s known, between Greenland, Iceland and the UK.”
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These vessels could be supported from larger surface ships nearby, Dr Blagden said, but for proper maintenance a base in Shetland or Orkney – rather than always having to sail them all the way back to mainland facilities in areas like Clyde, Rosyth and Loch Ewe – could be of benefit.
“Whether it’s as an official, actual structured MoD base or even if not, even on an informal basis, they might end up in places needing to get alongside jetties in Shetland and Orkney from time to time,” he said.
Dr Blagden said it could be attractive to the MoD if Iceland or Noway were able to maintain UK navy vessels, “but it’s not quite the same as having your own sovereign supporting facilities, with your own sovereign air defence nearby running out of Lossiemouth”.
The Royal Navy previously maintained a base at Scapa Flow on Orkney that became home to a major fleet during the two world wars, when the principal threat was German naval power escaping from the North Sea.
Dr Blagden said the region in the far north at the moment is “fraught and tense and hostile, in a lot of ways”.
He said Russian naval activity can involve vessels coming in around the top of Norway and trying to get into UK-adjacent seas.
“It’s all pretty hostile and pretty conflictual, the maritime competition in the High North, and so obviously Shetland is the most high north bit of the UK,” he said.
The Royal Navy said this week that warships and helicopters completed three focused operations across 17 days to monitor Russian activity in UK waters.
The Navy said helicopters were used to keep track of keep track of the Vishnya-class intelligence-gathering ship Viktor Leonov in the Outer Hebrides.
It added that the Russian ship was “closely monitoring NATO warships taking part in allied training” off the coast of Scotland.
HMS Dauntless’ commanding officer Neil Skinner said in a media statement that the Royal Navy’s “ability to monitor and respond to activity around the United Kingdom is fundamental to our role in protecting the nation’s interests at sea”.
Meanwhile, with the SaxaVord Spaceport being backed by an investment of £30 million from the UK Government, Dr Blagden said space is becoming “ever more important” strategically.
“There clearly is great value in having a sovereign space launch capability,” he said.
News also emerged last month that the UK and German governments had identified SaxaVord Spaceport as a potential hub for Europe’s access to space, with defence part of the thinking.
In a joint statement released following a meeting between prime minister Andy Burnham and German chancellor Friedrich Merz, the countries agreed to deepen their strategic co-operation in space across their civil, commercial, security and defence interests.
Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael previously questioned the UK Government if it should be reassessing the significance of Shetland and its waters in terms of defence given the national significance of the SaxaVord Spaceport.
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