Britain and Germany to bolster defence cooperation with new agreement

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and Germany will sign a defence agreement on Wednesday, the first of its kind between Europe's two biggest spenders on defence, which includes a commitment to develop new deep-strike weapons.

The two NATO allies said the pact, known as the Trinity House Agreement, would strengthen their ability to cooperate and conduct exercises on the bloc's eastern flank, improving their deterrence in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"With projects across the air, land, sea, and cyber domains, we will jointly increase our defence capabilities, thereby strengthening the European pillar within NATO," German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said, adding that the Ukraine war showed that "we must not take security in Europe for granted".

"It is particularly important to me that we cooperate even more closely to strengthen NATO's eastern flank and to close critical capability gaps, for instance in the field of long-range strike weapons."

Under the agreement, the countries will work together on developing new weapons that have a greater range and accuracy than current long-range missile systems like Storm Shadow, which Britain has given to Ukraine.

Germany will occasionally station planes in Scotland to help protect the north Atlantic Ocean, Britain said. The countries will collaborate on armed vehicles and land-based drones, as well as working to equip German Sea King helicopters - which it has given to Ukraine - with modern missile systems.

Rheinmetall will also open a new factory that will create 400 jobs and be the first manufacturer of artillery gun barrels in Britain for a decade.

British Defence Minister John Healey said the agreement was "a milestone moment in our relationship with Germany and a major strengthening of Europe's security".

"It secures unprecedented levels of new cooperation with the German Armed Forces and industry, bringing benefits to our shared security and prosperity, protecting our shared values and boosting our defence industrial bases," he said.

Although a bilateral deal, the accord also means that Britain, Germany and France all have defence agreements with each other, opening the door for possible further cooperation.

In 2010, Britain signed the Lancaster House Treaties with France, while Germany and France agreed an Aachen Treaty to cover similar areas, which came into effect in 2020.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout in London and Madeline Chambers in Berlin, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)