Britain and Germany will sign what the British government is calling a “landmark defense deal” aimed at boosting security, investment and jobs.
Under the agreement, German defense company Rheinmetall will open a new factory in the UK to manufacture artillery barrels, supporting 400 jobs.
The two countries will cooperate in developing new long-range missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.
German maritime reconnaissance aircraft will also conduct regular patrol flights over the North Atlantic from Lossiemouth Air Force Base in Scotland.
While in opposition, Labor pledged to forge closer military ties with Germany, part of a broader push by the government to reset relations with its key European allies after Brexit.
The UK already has a defense agreement with France (the Lancaster House Treaty signed by Prime Minister David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010), but this is the first with Germany.
Germany and the UK are Europe’s two largest defense spenders and Europe’s largest military donors to Ukraine.
Defense Secretary John Healey said this was a “landmark moment” that would bring the two countries’ militaries and defense industries closer together.
In fact, the two countries already cooperate as members of the NATO alliance.
The joint venture is also producing new tanks and armored vehicles for the British Army, with Germany’s Rheinmetall and Britain’s BAE Systems building RBSL in Telford, Shropshire, which manufactures the Boxer armored fighting vehicle and the latest Challenger 3 tank. Established.
Under the new Trinity House agreement, Rheinmetall will build a new factory in Britain to produce artillery barrels, a project Britain abandoned more than a decade ago.
The site for the new factory has not yet been announced, but the Ministry of Defense (MOD) says it will support more than 400 jobs and use British steel manufactured by Sheffield Forgemasters.
The steel manufacturer was recently acquired by the British government. The first cannon barrels are expected to roll off the production line in 2027.
The trinity agreement also includes a commitment to develop a new long-range missile, which the Ministry of Defense says will be more accurate and can fire farther than current systems (Britain’s Stormshadow and Germany’s Taurus). He says it can be done. Unlike Britain, Germany has refused to supply Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Britain and Germany will further collaborate on the development of drones that could potentially fly alongside the Typhoon jets operated by both countries.
Germany’s P8 maritime reconnaissance aircraft will operate regularly from Lossiemouth Air Base in Scotland to support patrols in the North Atlantic. Other NATO allies have been doing similar things for years.
There are also promises to strengthen the defense of NATO’s eastern flank. Both Britain and Germany have already sent hundreds of troops to the Baltic states as part of NATO’s plan to strengthen its defenses in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the deal would strengthen Europe and NATO.
“Europe’s security cannot be taken for granted,” he said, adding that ongoing projects would be open to other partners.
