British Secretary of State for Defense Philip Hammond applauded on Friday the communique on security and defense cooperationsigned by Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande.The deal was inked during the Britain-France Summit 2014 at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, central Britain, earlier today, in the presence of Hammond and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian."Britain and France are natural partners for defence co-operation," Hammond said. "We have made substantial progress since the Lancaster House treaty was signed in 2010 and today we have committed ourselves to go further still," he pointed out."The agreements we have reached at this summit will improve the interoperability of our forces, enhance our joint equipment procurement and build on our capacity to support security and stability in places such as Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic," he added.