Carrier Deal

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta hosted the U.K. secretary of state for defense, Philip Hammond, at the Pentagon Thursday afternoon for their first official bilateral meeting, which included a discussion of the new defense strategy as well as the signing of a deal on aircraft carriers.

The two secretaries “discussed the new U.S. defense strategic guidance and compared notes on the UK's recent experience with its Strategic Defense and Security Review,” Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said in a statement. “They spent a good part of their meeting discussing innovative approaches to defense in an era of fiscal austerity, and agreed that NATO must continue to invest in military capabilities despite the imperative to achieve fiscal discipline.”

Further, Panetta and Hammond signed “a Statement of Intent on Carrier Cooperation and Maritime Power Projection that will serve as the framework for increased cooperation and interoperability on the use of aircraft carriers, as well as provide the basis for the U.S. to assist the U.K. Royal Navy in developing its next generation of aircraft carriers,” Little said. “This cooperation is a cutting-edge example of close allies working together in a time of fiscal austerity to deliver a capability needed to maintain our global military edge.”