The UK and Germany have announced a new collaboration to develop a long-range precision strike weapon with a range exceeding 2,000 km.
The announcement marks the first major milestone under the Trinity House Agreement, signed in October 2024, which established the first bilateral defence cooperation framework between the two nations.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the weapon will be among the most advanced systems designed by the UK, aimed at enhancing NATO’s deterrence capability while supporting national security. The project is also expected to bolster the UK and European defence industries, creating skilled jobs and driving economic growth.
The agreement was revealed during the first Trinity House Defence Ministerial Council, held today in Berlin, where German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius hosted UK Defence Secretary John Healey MP. Discussions focused on how the Trinity House Agreement is strengthening European security and boosting economic development through defence collaboration.
Healey stated: “The UK and Germany have never been closer, and the Trinity House Agreement is already making a positive impact on our security and economy. This partnership is helping us make defence an engine for growth – creating jobs, boosting skills, and driving investment across the UK and Germany.”
Additionally, the two nations discussed a joint procurement programme for Sting Ray torpedoes for P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft. This initiative aims to enhance the UK and Germany’s ability to counter underwater threats. Germany will also procure advanced British military bridges as part of the collaboration, supporting jobs in the North-west of England.
The next meeting of the UK and German defence ministers will take place tomorrow (16th May) in Rome, alongside their Polish, Italian, and French counterparts, as part of the European Group of Five (E5) Defence Ministers meeting.
2000km range is fantastic, especially if deployable from a stealth platform.
Will the Germans agree to it being sold to anyone…….
With that sort of range I don’t think stealth would be even remotely necessary, you could launch from well outside of air-defences. What I wonder most is how this fits in with the Storm shadow replacement and the hypersonic weapons being developed. Perhaps it could be used to carry a nuclear warhead?
Presumably the stealth is more for the missile than the platform it is launched from, and so not wanting to be intercepted stealth is still a big factor/benefit for missiles.
I don’t think you will find the UK wanting to market such a missile outside of direct allies to be honest
All indications are that it will be land launched not air launched.
That makes sense
Absolute crap – there are no indications whatsoever that this weapon will be land launched
2,000 km!
The range is very interesting because essentially a 2000km missile allows the UK to hold Russia at risk of attack directly from the UK. This is important because it would mean the UK could attack without needing an SSN in the high north as a strike platform or for typhoons to close within 400-500km of Russia.
It’s pretty much essential for the UK to be able to evidence that it can hurt Russia via long range strikes over and over again, as this requirement is a core deterrent against war.
Yes, I believe it’s why the range is set at 2000km, this will be land lunched from some form of moving vehicle and be able to be fired on mass from the UK or Germany into Russia.
It’s designed to provide a prompt massive precession strike as an alternative to tactical nuclear weapons to act as a deterrent to Russia.
Complete rubbish – you can’t even spell “precision” –
What’s the ability to spell got to do with anything
Do we think this is a cruise missile with terrain following and another version of tomahawk ? Slow and low? or ballistic? Knowing our preference with FW/CAS with the French we wanted something subsonic and longer distance but the French wanted hypersonic
This will be sub sonic long range and stealthy. it will borrow heavily on the technology for FC/ASW as MBDA will be building it. It’s likely to be a longer range land based version of the sub sonic FC/ASW as the French are often discussed in its development as well.
Bollox – there is no information about stealth or speed, no mention of FC/ASW whatsoever and no mention of French involvement at all
Savid, this looks like trolling. You can make your important points another way.
David! I can spell but typing isn’t mu forte! Apologies.
Hi Jim, are we looking at this as the next chapter, after FC/ASW, do you know? Given we have Tomahawk now on SSNs it would make sense to have a subsea launched version, can you imagine the reach associated with that option? Almost no corner of the globe unreachable. I’d like to see this solution as land-based, as you say, with a design and/or conversion kit so it could be used as air-launched at some point and ….. crucially, integrated onto an F-35 (better start talking to LM now then!).
It’s almost undoubtedly not going to be a ballistic missile as that would essentially be scratch developed of an IRMB, essentially a multi stage sub orbital booster and re-entry vehicle, not something the UK or Germany has a lot of experience and it would be a profoundly expensive and limited numbers platform.. I suspect a stealthy cruise missile as both Germany and the UK have experience with that.
I would bet my bottom dollar this is a ground launched system as Germany has already ordered 600 Taurus Neo as airlaunched cruise missiles and the UK is working on an airlaunched and ship launched system with France.
The Western European nations seen to be very much gearing up on their ability to deliver pain.
The long range subsonic missile developed with France as one half of FCASW has an IOC date of 2027. This new missile, mentioned in the original 2024 TH agreement, is presumably an entirely separate project. We also have project Brakestop about to achieve first flight. I presume that this new missile will be ground launched and ballistic. If not, isnt it just duplicating weapons already in development?.
I hope this does not affect the existing Deep Fires, PRSM, GMLRS program, that is ready and needs money and assets now?
I can see CND types ( not nuclear I know ) following these around like back in the day with GLCM, if they need to disperse.
I w would hope not after all it’s a different capacity.. after all a ground based 2000km range cruise missile capability is essentially a conventional strategic asset/deterrent, not a tactical one like deep fires.
Nuclear capable? if not it should be
It won’t be as to not spook the Russians, this is designed to provide an alternative to tactical nuclear weapons for countries like Germany so they can have large scale precision strike.
If we put nuclear weapons on it we risk a return to the 80’s and the potential hare trigger response that nuclear TLAM brought in.
Why do you make up this sort of crap? There is no mention of nuclear weapons in the statement.
Hi David I know you’re a bit thick pal so let me explain.
Some of us read more than one source for information.
Google is your friend grandad 😀
Lots has been written on this weapon since the trinity house agreement, I suggest you do a bit of reading.
Write back if you want me to explain it for you.
👍
Hence, not a nuclear weapon, you are agreeing with Jim.
Would probably be nice for him (and indeed for the rest of us) if you occasionally passed by one of his comments without taking the opportunity to insult him.
just a stand off nuke, something like the ASMP-A
Another interesting thought for a 2000km ground launched cruise missile is if you place a battery in Akrotiri, you can strike straight into Iran with Tehran only being 1600km distance.. so it would potentially act as a deterrent to that enemy as well.
So is this just a means of avoiding using Storm Shadow and Voyager trails for long range strikes?
I can see issues with this missile trying to be low cost so that it can actually be used in the middle east, while simultaneously having exquisite stealth, ECM etc. so that it is a credible deterrent in Europe.
I’m not saying they would use it in the Middle East, but have it as a deterrent to Iran it would be credible and to be honest if your holding Iran at risk ( via a credible threat to Tehran) as a deterrent you want a decent missile as its air defence systems are going to be reasonable.. obviously if your undertaking actions against terrorists or other more standard Middle Eastern threats then your dropping a paveway.
Look at Russia it’s not flinging IRMBs in droves at Ukraine, it used it once to let the west know it had them pointed in our direction.. successfully strategic ( nuclear and conventional ) are at their best when never used.
More and more I think the defence review is going to be very interesting.. capability to do harm seems to be big on the agenda.
And how many will we actually purchase after a multi billion pound development. 10-20 missiles.
In all seriousness if we are getting hundreds and hundreds then great. If as is usual we end up with a penny pockets minimal force level then I’d rather the MOD purchased in more armaments that are already in production.
I think this is a political gesture as part of the Brexit reset and trying to support more indigenous production capacity within Europe since the Orange Messiah came into POAC and the USA clearly having a retrenching philosophy to the rest of the world.
The obvious reason to be developing very long range strike capabilities- specific scenarios aside- is in order to counter the steady advance of adversary A2/AD capabilities.