Britain to Lead European Coalition Developing Long-Range Missiles

Britain will lead a coalition of five European countries to develop long-range precision-strike missiles. The group includes Germany, Ukraine, France and the Netherlands. The "Deep Precision Strike Coalition" will be presented today at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. Diplomats and officials told The Telegraph that the weapons are intended to reduce reliance on U.S. systems.

The missiles are designed to strike targets between 1,000 and 3,000 kilometres away with high accuracy. Such systems could target aircraft on the ground or production facilities deep inside hostile territory. Development of any European missile is expected to take decades before it becomes operational.

Germany is also slated to play a leading role, building on an existing joint programme with Britain that already exceeds 2,000 kilometres in range.

NATO members agreed last year to raise defence spending to five per cent of GDP. The alliance's secretary-general has asked participants to bring concrete plans to meet that goal. Additional efforts under discussion include an independent European air-defence network and new intelligence and reconnaissance satellites.

European allies and Canada are projected to spend £222 billion on defence this year.