WIREDGOV

UK and Germany deepen defence-industrial cooperation at Lancaster House talks, building on the Trinity House Agreement and Kensington Treaty.

• UK and Germany strengthened defence-industrial cooperation at the latest talks at Lancaster House.
• The talks build on the Trinity House Agreement and Kensington Treaty, reinforcing cooperation between the two nations across air, land, sea and space.
• Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard and German counterpart State Secretary Jens Plötner joined industry leaders to discuss industrial priorities for collaboration.

UK-German work on key industrial collaboration and new technology was advanced yesterday as Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard hosted his German counterpart, State Secretary for Armament and Innovation Jens Plötner, at Lancaster House in London.

The latest UK-Germany Ministerial Group on Equipment and Capability Cooperation (MECC) meeting brought together senior officials and military leaders from both nations to review progress on joint defence capability programmes and to deepen the industrial partnership between the UK and Germany, two of NATO’s leading defence powers. 

Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard MP said:

Germany is one of our closest and most valued defence partners, and today’s talks demonstrate our determination to turn that ambition into real capability for our armed forces and real opportunity for our defence industries.

As threats to our shared security evolve, the UK and Germany are standing together, strengthening our forces, our industrial bases and our resilience in lockstep. 

Discussions built on the Trinity House Agreement, signed in October 2024, which set out an ambitious programme of bilateral cooperation across air, land, maritime, cyber and space domains. The agreement sits under the wider Kensington Treaty, signed in July 2025, which provides the strategic framework for the UK-Germany relationship.

Among the flagship programmes on the agenda was Deep Precision Strike, a joint UK-Germany initiative to develop long-range strike capability, reflecting the shared ambition of both nations to address critical capability gaps and strengthen NATO’s deterrence.

The talks follow the Prime Minister’s visit to Berlin on 8 October, during which the UK and Germany agreed to deepen cooperation on space and to establish a new UK-Germany Counter-Hybrid Partnership, strengthening joint resilience against grey-zone threats.

Following the MECC meeting, Minister Pollard joined State Secretary Plötner at the German Embassy in London for a panel discussion which saw senior policymakers and industry leaders take stock of defence-industrial progress and identify practical priorities for deepening cooperation.

Minister Pollard was joined on the panel by State Secretary Plötner, Dr Philipp Kerth, co-founder and chief executive of German defence technology company Hypersonica, and Katherine Williams, Vice President of UK and International Government Relations at Rolls-Royce.

The MECC forms part of a wider programme of UK-German engagement in the lead-up to the EU-UK summit. The UK-Germany defence relationship continues to grow as both nations work towards a more resilient Euro-Atlantic security architecture, underpinned by a modern, innovative and competitive defence industrial base at the heart of NATO’s deterrence and readiness.