BURNHAM SIGNALS UK OPENNESS TO GERMANY JOINING GCAP JET PROGRAMME

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the United Kingdom is "open" to Germany joining the Global Combat Air Programme, known as GCAP, during a news conference in Berlin on Thursday. Burnham made the comment after meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, on his first official visit to Germany since taking office in July. He said he had indicated to Merz the UK's "openness" to Germany joining the scheme, and that he intended to progress the idea in the coming period alongside the programme's existing partners, Italy and Japan. GCAP is a joint effort between the UK, Italy and Japan to develop a new sixth-generation fighter jet.

Speculation about Germany joining GCAP had grown after a separate Franco-German fighter jet programme collapsed in June, according to reports. Canada was welcomed into GCAP as an "observer nation" in July. Developers of the new jet say it will be fitted with artificial intelligence, next-generation sensors and other technology, as Western nations seek to maintain air superiority over rival powers. No timetable or formal process for any German entry into the programme was set out.

Burnham's Berlin visit was also expected to produce a new UK-Germany security partnership aimed at countering sabotage, cyberattacks and other hybrid threats, his office said. In a statement issued ahead of the trip, Burnham said attacks on infrastructure, businesses and democracies were "not a distant threat" and were designed to make societies "weaker and more divided". His office specifically named Russia as a source of such threats but said the partnership would address security risks regardless of their origin. Under the agreement, the UK and Germany are to share security information and work together to monitor, deter and disrupt threats.