GERMANY is considering offering financial support for Trident to strengthen Europe's independent nuclear deterrent.
It comes amid growing anxiety over Russian aggression and potential future withdrawals of US military support.
According to The Telegraph, this could include deploying German-operated Patriot ground-based air-defence batteries to key locations, such as the submarine base in Faslane on the Clyde that is home to the Trident fleet.
Berlin could also reportedly help with the manufacturing or servicing of the UK’s nuclear submarines and missiles.
“We have a very strong interest that the existing nuclear powers in Europe extend their capabilities,” a source told the newspaper.
The Telegraph is also reporting that discussions between Paris, Berlin and London have accelerated in recent months amid fears about what the Trump administration will do next.
A separate diplomatic source in Germany said: “Policymakers are waking up each morning and asking themselves what the hell the Americans are going to do tomorrow.”
It comes as Andy Burnham has set out funding to get the first of the new generation of nuclear submarines ready for service.
The first Dreadnought class vessel, named HMS Dreadnought, will be one of four submarines made ready to replace the current Vanguard class of submarines, which operate Britain’s continuously at-sea Trident nuclear deterrent.
The latest funding is billed as the fourth phase of a programme to replace Vanguard, which has been operating since the 1990s, and is reportedly coming under increasing strain.
Dreadnought is expected to enter service by the mid-2030s, with Vanguard being retired at the same time.
The UK Government estimates however that the Defence Nuclear Enterprise, the overall programme to build Dreadnought, supports some 47,000 jobs and apprenticeships across the country, a figure that will rise to 65,000 by 2030.
