Weekly Defence Rundown 11th – 17th August 2025

by CMS Team on 18 August, 2025

The biggest headline of the week was undoubtedly the Trump-Putin summit held in Alaska on Friday. The first meeting between a US president and Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the two hour and 45 minute private meeting between Trump and Putin was followed by a 12-minute press conference, revealing that no ceasefire had been agreed.

However, both Trump and Putin held out the possibility of future meetings, with Putin even suggesting that it could be held in Russia. Meanwhile, following Trump’s return from Alaska, the White House announced that Zelenskyy and European leaders would meet in Washington on Monday for more talks.

Defence Brief: Key Insights from the Week

‘Category A nuclear incident’ took place at Scottish Navy base (The Telegraph)
Britain plans scaled-back ‘reassurance force’ in Ukraine (The Times)
Britons willing to buy survival kits and volunteer for new ‘Dad’s Army’ to prepare for war (The i Paper)
Europe builds for war as arms factories expand at triple speed (Financial Times)

Industry Latest:

Elbit Systems wins $1.64bn defence contract with European nation (Army Technology)
ICEYE unveils ‘Scan Wide’ mode (Calibre Defemce)
Estonia unveils EUR10bn defence spending plan (DSEI Gateway)
Terma contracts Chess Dynamics for radar turntables (Airforce Technology)
US Army to open internal UAS Marketplace website (Janes)
British firm to supply comms masts for Australian frigates (UK Defence Journal)
Anduril, Korean Air to co-develop UAS products (Airforce Technology)

Direct from Government:

Statement of the Co-chairs of the Coalition of the Willing: 17 August 2025 (Prime Minister’s Office)

News from Further Afar:

It has been revealed that the Trump administration’s $175bn Golden Dome missile defence system will include four layers. The multi-layered missile defence shield will comprise of one satellite-based and three land-based layers, with eleven short-range batteries to be located across mainland US, Alaska, and Hawaii (Reuters)
Ahead of the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, Ukraine has stated that it could cede territory already held by Russia in order to secure a peace plan (The Telegraph)
A debate is ongoing in Germany’s grand coalition over the country’s new military draft law – the Military Service Modernisation Act. Set to be presented in Cabinet on August 27^th, pressure is mounting over whether the effort to increase the size of the German military should include military conscription (Politico)
Poland has signed a $3.8bn contract to upgrade its fleet of 48 F-16C/D Block 52+ aircraft (Reuters)

CMS Podcast of the Week:

In Moscow’s Shadows | Trump, Putin, Alaska

Coming Up This Week:

All eyes will be on the meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington on Monday. With Trump already having told Zelenskyy to rule out reclaiming Crimea or joining NATO and rumours circulating that Sir Keir Starmer has accepted the premise of “land for peace”, we’ll have to wait to see the fallout of the meeting.

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