German planes will operate from a base in the UK under a defence pact with Berlin being signed on Wednesday.
The submarine-hunting planes will fly from Scotland, patrolling the North Atlantic as the allies respond to the growing threat from Russia.
And German arms giant Rheinmetall is set to open a factory producing artillery gun barrels using British steel.
The UK-Germany Trinity House Agreement is a sign of the Government’s attempts to forge close relations with European allies, particularly on defence and security measures.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wants to “reset” relations with the European Union’s key players and the defence deal is the first pillar in a planned wider UK-Germany treaty.
READ MORE: Military testing to knock out radar and GPS near base in Scotland
The agreement will see the Nato allies working together on developing long-range strike weapons that can travel further than the UK’s existing Storm Shadow missiles.
And the UK and Germany will also collaborate on developing new land-based and aerial drones.
Defence Secretary John Healey said: “The Trinity House Agreement is a milestone moment in our relationship with Germany, and a major strengthening of Europe’s security.
“It secures unprecedented levels of new co-operation 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.
“This landmark agreement delivers on the Government’s manifesto commitment to strike a new defence relationship with Germany – less than four months since winning the election in July – and we will build on this new co-operation in the months and years ahead.
“I pay tribute to our negotiating teams who have worked hard at pace to deliver this.”
Under the agreement, the Ministry of Defence said German P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft will “periodically” operate out of RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, potentially armed with UK-supplied torpedoes, helping to secure the North Atlantic.
In response to the potential threat from Russian activity at sea, the allies will also work together to protect underwater cables.
In addition, the agreement will pave the way for the new Rheinmetall plant, which will see the UK make artillery gun barrels for the first time in a decade using steel made by Sheffield Forgemasters and supporting 400 jobs.
The first artillery gun barrels are expected to be produced in 2027.
Other measures will see co-operation to strengthen Nato’s eastern flank and extra support for Ukraine, including work on equipping German Sea King helicopters with modern missile systems for use by Kyiv’s forces.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius said: “We must not take security in Europe for granted. Russia is waging war against Ukraine, it is increasing its weapons production immensely and has repeatedly launched hybrid attacks on our partners in eastern Europe.
“With the Trinity House Agreement, we are showing that the Nato allies have recognised what these times require and are determined to improve their deterrence and defence capabilities.
“As it lays the foundation for future projects, the Trinity House Agreement is an important contribution to this.
“It is particularly important to me that we co-operate 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.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel