The latest UK-Germany Ministerial Group on Equipment and Capability Cooperation (MECC) meeting took place at Lancaster House, bringing together senior officials and military leaders from both nations. The discussions aimed to review progress on joint defence capability programmes and to further the industrial partnership between the two leading NATO defence powers.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard highlighted Germany as a "closest and most valued defence partner", stating that the talks demonstrated a shared determination to translate ambition into real capability for armed forces and opportunities for defence industries. He added that as threats evolve, the UK and Germany are "standing together, strengthening our forces, our industrial bases and our resilience in lockstep."
Discussions were informed by the Trinity House Agreement, signed in October 2024, which outlines bilateral cooperation across air, land, maritime, cyber, and space domains. This agreement operates under the broader Kensington Treaty, signed in July 2025, which provides the strategic framework for the UK-Germany relationship.
A key agenda item was Deep Precision Strike, a joint initiative to develop long-range strike capability, reflecting a shared ambition to address critical capability gaps and enhance NATO’s deterrence. These talks follow the Prime Minister’s visit to Berlin on 8 October, where cooperation on space and the establishment of a new UK-Germany Counter-Hybrid Partnership were agreed.
Following the MECC meeting, Minister Pollard and German State Secretary for Armament and Innovation Jens Plötner participated in a panel discussion at the German Embassy in London. The panel, which included Dr Philipp Kerth, co-founder and chief executive of Hypersonica, and Katherine Williams, Vice President of Rolls-Royce UK and International Government Relations, focused on defence-industrial progress and practical priorities for cooperation.
The MECC is part of a broader UK-German engagement programme leading up to the EU-UK summit. The defence relationship continues to grow as both nations work towards a more resilient Euro-Atlantic security architecture, supported by a competitive defence industrial base crucial for NATO’s deterrence and readiness.
