Weekly Defence Rundown 21st – 27th July 2025

by CMS Team on 28 July, 2025

July has proven to be a busy month for Sir Keir Starmer on the foreign policy and diplomacy front, and the past week was no exception. In a win for the PM and his growth agenda, the UK and India finalised a trade deal that is expected to boost British exports to India by 60% by 2040, ultimately adding £4.8bn annually to the UK economy.

In Türkiye, Defence Secretary John Healey and his Turkish counterpart signed an MoU, moving the UK one step closer to a multi-billion-pound deal to export Typhoon fighter jets. As negotiations continue, a deal would mark the UK’s first Typhoon export order since 2017.

Healey then travelled to Australia, alongside Foreign Secretary David Lammy, to sign a £20bn treaty to build nuclear-powered submarines. With uncertainty in the US over the future of the AUKUS defence pact, the treaty was intended to send a signal to the Trump administration on the UK and Australia’s commitment to the tri-lateral partnership.

Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch was active on the domestic front, as she reshuffled her shadow cabinet. While much of her top team remained in place, former Home Secretary James Cleverly will return to the frontbench as Shadow Housing Secretary, where he will face off against Angela Rayner.

Defence Brief: Key Insights from the Week

Australia and UK to sign 50-year defence treaty despite US wavering on AUKUS submarine deal (The Guardian)
Healey signs agreement paving way for export of Typhoon jets to Turkey (The Independent)
Lockheed Martin profits plunge almost 80% as it takes $1.6bn in charges (Financial Times)
US nuclear weapons ‘on UK soil’ for first time in 17 years (The Times)
EU will make UK pay to join €150bn defence fund (Financial Times)
Britain to build fleet of spy balloons (The Telegraph)
Setback in search for new UK weapons chief as shortlisted candidate pulls out (Financial Times)

Industry Latest:

Ukraine gains $322m Bradley IFV, HAWK missile FMS from US (Army Technology)
British submarine fires drone from torpedo tube (UK Defence Journal)
Project ASGARD; the British Army’s path to doubling lethality (Calibre Defence)
Weaknesses found in UK defence industrial supply wargame (UK Defence Journal)
BDT UK’s Project Grayburn pitch to re-arm British industry (UK Defence Journal)
Australia to procure C-UASs under Land 156 project (Janes)

Straight from Government:

UK high-altitude research and intelligence balloon soars to new heights (MoD Press Release)
UK Space Commander speech on defence in the space domain (MoD Press Release)
AUKUS treaty deepens UK-Australia defence partnership to generate £20 billion in trade and create 7,000 new jobs (MoD Press Release)
UK and Türkiye agree big step towards multi-billion-pound export of Typhoon fighter jets (MoD Press Release)
UK Carrier Strike Group contributes to Exercise Talisman Sabre (MoD Press Release)
UK ramps up Ukraine military support with £150 million of vital air defence and artillery ammunition delivered in just two months (MoD Press Release)

News from Further Afar:

Belgium unveiled its ‘Strategic Vision Defence 2025’, which includes a €33.8bn defence spending programme. The plan details the Belgian MoD’s spending priorities from 2026-2034, with air defence and the acquisition of new vehicles identified as key capability gaps to fill (DSEI Gateway)
President Macron and Chancellor Merz met to resolve differences over the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project, after the companies involved – Dassault Aviation and Airbus – held a public spat over governance and how the work should be split (Financial Times)
Poland is planning to buy a stake in satellite company ICEYE, adding to the $550m raised from investors so far. ICEYE has experienced significant growth over the past few years after coming to prominence by tracking Russian troop movements in Ukraine (Financial Times)
John Healey pledged that Australia and the UK would fight together, as the Defence Secretary joined Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Darwin for defence talks (The Times)
The procurement process for Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ has begun. Under a scheme which will be known as the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense, or Shield, $151bn will be spent over a 10-year period for an “advanced, multi-domain defence system” capable of detecting and neutralising threats “across all phases of flight by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles” (Financial Times)

CMS Podcast of the Week:

The Culture Colonel | Changing the Culture, Changing Defence – with Sarah Atherton

Coming Up This Week:

Sir Keir Starmer will travel to Turnberry on Monday to meet with President Trump on his golf course for the final day of his four-day visit to the UK. The pair will discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict as well as transatlantic trade and reduced tariffs on steel imports.

Days after Parliament rose for summer recess, Starmer has recalled his cabinet amid the deteriorating situation in Gaza. While the PM is under pressure from some Labour MPs to follow France and recognise a Palestinian state, Starmer has so far resisted such calls. The issue will likely dominate headlines for the week ahead.

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