The UK and France have signed a declaration on modernising defence and security cooperation. The nations announced yesterday (July 10) that they will reboot, modernise and build upon their bilateral defence and security relationship, including in air defence and counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS) capabilities.
The declaration includes a pledge to “focus greater efforts on integrated air and missile defence in our capability relationship, including (but not limited to) C-UAS and counter-hypersonic capabilities, drawing especially from the Aster family increments, including potentially SAMP/T NG and CAMM.”
The two countries have also agreed to increase the complexity of combined air defence exercises, cooperating on responses to high-altitude threats, boosting cooperation in the development of C-UAS capabilities, particularly in the integration of Command And Control (C2) systems.
They have also agreed to jointly develop a Directed Energy Weapons partnership, sharing information, collaborating on research and projects of shared interest, and exploring industry collaboration on radiofrequency weapons.
The declaration also sets out that the UK and France will collaborate on developing algorithms for synchronised missile and drone strikes using artificial intelligence and machine learning, to build future interoperability.
“In 2010, through the Lancaster House Treaties, our nations formalised a shared cooperation to address the challenges of that era: expeditionary warfare and counterterrorism,” the UK government stated. “Fifteen years later, the threats we face have changed fundamentally with state-on-state conflict rising globally and, since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the return of full-scale war to Europe.”
The new declaration is wide-ranging and intended to both modernise and increase cooperation between the two countries.
For more information
Image: French President Emmanuel Macron with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Official No 10 Downing Street photo by Simon Dawson)
