UK and Germany agree to widen defence cooperation at second Defence Ministerial Council

The United Kingdom and Germany held the second meeting of their Defence Ministerial Council on 2 November 2026, with UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius agreeing to keep working on long-range strike, naval, land, air, artificial intelligence and space cooperation. The two ministries published a joint statement after the talks, held two years after the Trinity House Agreement was signed in October 2024.

The statement says the Kensington Treaty reinforces that framework. It tells teams on both sides to keep up momentum through 2027, with the focus on delivery. In its closing line the two countries say they will “keep our continent safe by building a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO.”

Ukraine and Deep Precision Strike

The ministers reaffirmed support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. The UK and Germany co-chair the Ukraine Defence Contact Group and are both members of the Coalition of the Willing, which is working on security guarantees for the period after hostilities end, according to the statement.

On long-range strike, the two countries describe a joint Deep Precision Strike project to develop capabilities with a range of more than 2,000 kilometres, due within the decade. The project was already on the agenda when British and German armaments officials met at Lancaster House last month, as covered in UK and Germany hold equipment cooperation talks at Lancaster House, with Deep Precision Strike on the agenda.

Land, sea, air, AI and space

On land, the statement announces a strategic partnership covering readiness, interoperability, future capabilities and uncrewed systems. At sea, the two sides are cooperating on the procurement of Sting Ray lightweight torpedoes under an Implementing Arrangement signed by their National Armaments Directors. The statement adds that German P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft operated from RAF Lossiemouth for the first time this year, during Exercise Dynamic Mongoose in May and Exercise Strike Warrior, which ended in early October.

In the air, cooperation continues under a bilateral Flight Plan that includes future uncrewed and collaborative combat capabilities. The ministers also agreed to widen the Cyber Lighthouse Project to cover artificial intelligence, concentrating on a small number of shared military use cases.

On space, the ministries will explore cooperation on satellite communications, earth observation, data exploitation and space domain awareness. The statement presents this as following a joint ambition set the previous month by the German Federal Chancellor and the UK Prime Minister.

What the statement does not say

The statement gives no budget figures, no delivery dates for the Sting Ray order and no timetable for the Deep Precision Strike project beyond “within the decade”. Further details are expected to emerge as the teams report back during 2027.