Germany and UK expand defence cooperation

Germany and the United Kingdom plan to enhance their military cooperation. At the German-British Defence Ministerial Council held on 2 November 2026 in Berlin, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and his British counterpart Wes Streeting announced plans to deepen cooperation in defence projects. Pistorius stressed that “German-British relations are better than ever before. We have grown even closer over the past few years. We are standing side by side as leading nations within the alliance.”

The two countries are developing a long-range precision weapon with a reach of over 2,000 kilometres together. In the area of air defence, plans include, in particular, the joint acquisition of Eurofighter missiles. A new key project in space was agreed that is to involve space surveillance and earth observation, and the two countries also plan to cooperate in the area of artificial intelligence for military use.

London also signalled to be open for German involvement in the GCAP combat aircraft project that the United Kingdom has been developing in cooperation with Italy and Japan. The decision will be made jointly by the three partners. Over the next two weeks, Pistorius plans to talk to Italy and Japan. The two countries also collaborate closely when it comes to supporting Ukraine. On 17 November 2026, Streeting and Pistorius will be jointly chairing a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group for the first time.