UK and Germany sign landmark ‘defence’ treaty

Under the new Trinity House Agreement, Rheinmetall will build a new factory in the UK to produce barrels for artillery guns – something the UK stopped doing more than a decade ago.

The site for the new factory has not yet been announced, but the Ministry of Defence (MOD) says it will support more than 400 jobs and will use British steel produced by Sheffield Forgemasters.

The steelmaker was recently acquired by the UK Government. The first artillery gun barrels are expected to roll off the production line in 2027.

The Trinity House Agreement also includes a commitment to develop a new long-range missile, which the MOD says will be more precise and can be fired further than any current systems – the UK’s Storm Shadow and Germany’s Taurus. Unlike the UK, Germany has refused to supply Ukraine with its Taurus cruise missile.

The UK and Germany will further co-operate on developing drones which might be able to fly alongside Typhoon jets operated by both countries.

German P8 maritime surveillance aircraft will periodically operate out of RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland to help patrol the North Atlantic. Other NATO allies have been doing the same for a number of years.

There is also a promise to bolster the defence of NATO’s eastern flank; both the UK and Germany have already sent hundreds of troops to the Baltic states as part of NATO’s enhanced defence plans following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said the agreement will strengthen Europe and NATO.

“We must not take security in Europe for granted,” he said, adding that the projects being undertaken would be open to other partners.