Weekly Defence Rundown 13th – 19th October

Following the release of the final 20 living hostages still held by Hamas, the UK has ended its two-year surveillance mission over Gaza. However, while the ceasefire still remains in effect, worries are growing after deadly strikes from both sides over the weekend.

Pressure continues to mount on all parties involved in the collapse of the case against two men accused of spying for China. The charges against parliamentary researcher Chrisopher Cash and academic Christopher Berry were dropped last month after the government was unable to provide enough evidence that China represented a threat to the UK’s national security. With pressure on the CPS to answer questions over why the case collapsed and scrutiny over the Government’s position on China and accusations of appeasement, this story doesn’t appear to be leaving the headlines anytime soon.

In a major development for UK Defence, the government has appointed Rupert Pearce, former boss of satellite operator Inmarsat, as the National Armaments Director. In his new role, Pearce will be tasked with fixing military procurement and reduce waste in the UK’s defence budget.

Finally, AUSA was underway in Washington DC last week. The modernisation of the US Army was the headline of the exhibition, with announcements on new Army command software, artillery, and training all taking centre stage.

Defence Brief: Key Insights from the Week        

• Soldiers will be given power to shoot down threatening drones (The Times)
• Royal Navy fits helicopters with drone-busting rockets (The Telegraph)
• UK defence suppliers tap fintechs to scale up production (Financial Times)
• Russian hackers suspected of posting secret MoD files on dark web (The Times)
• £12m payout for soldiers who were too young for rent discount (The Telegraph)
• RAF fighter pilots to be trained by Indian ‘Top Guns’ (The Times)
• Britain sends drone warfare experts to Moldova (The Telegraph)
• Reeves ‘to miss Nato defence spending target’ (The Telegraph)
• Keir Starmer labelled ‘control freak’ in military gagging row (The Times)
• UK appoints weapons chief to fix wasteful defence spending (Financial Times)
• Ukraine peace talks wipe almost £7bn off defence giants (The Telegraph)

Industry Latest:

• MOD seeks industry partners for new drone testing framework (UK Defence Journal)
• EU unveils defence roadmap to bolster military capabilities (Army Technology)
• Sweden to design new fighter jet (UK Defence Journal)
• General Atomics and BAE announce milestones for long-range artillery (Calibre Defence)
• UK opens massive new military storage facility (UK Defence Journal)
• Serco secures $10.4m RAF Typhoon engine maintenance contract (Airforce Technology)
• AUSA 2025: Boeing, Leonardo team for army’s Flight School Next programme (Janes)
• Inside the UK’s outsourced pilot training model the US Air Force now wants to copy (Aerospace Global News)

Direct from Government:

• Joint UK-India Carrier Strike Group exercise deepens defence ties as deals boost UK jobs (MoD Press Release)
• UK and NATO nations ramp up response to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine and incursions into Europe (MoD Press Release)
• National Armaments Director to drive forward defence reform and bolster national arsenal (MoD Press Release)
• Royal Marines’ bullseye shot stops £35m illegal drugs shipment in the Middle East (MoD Press Release)

News from Further Afar:

• In a major milestone in the Israel-Hamas conflict, Hamas released the 20 surviving hostages. The release of the all the hostages, both dead and alive, was a crucial part of the first phase of Trump’s peace plan to end the conflict (The Telegraph)
• However, in the days following the ceasefire, a power vacuum appears to be opening up in Gaza, with Hamas carrying out public executions of rival clans in order to reassert its control as Israeli forces withdraw (The Times)
• As North Korea unveiled a nuclear weapon capable of striking the US, South Korea has claimed that Russia is helping its northern neighbour build submarines armed with ballistic missiles (The Times)
• The European Commission has presented its Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030, a military plan setting out the EU’s plan to prepare for war within 5 years (Politico)
• The plan details four projects, including a European space shield to protect the bloc’s satellites that deliver civilian and military services. Also included in the plan is a counter-drone system and fortifications on the EU’s eastern borders (The Telegraph)
• Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius has denied “torpedoing” plans for a new form of military service after he made an eleventh-hour intervention which rejected a deal between Chancellor Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and his centre-left Social Democrats (SDP) (Financial Times)
• Saudi Arabia is in discussions with the Trump administration for a defence deal similar to last month’s US-Qatar pact, which included a NATO-style Article 5 commitment on an attack against the Gulf state. Saudi Arabia reportedly hopes that this deal will be finalised when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits the White House in November (Financial Times)
• President Trump and Putin will hold a face-to-face meeting in Budapest before the end of the year. The meeting was announced after a “lengthy” phone call between the two leaders on Friday (The Times)
• Days later, Trump met President Zelenskyy in the White House. In a further shift from the pro-Ukraine position he took at the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump urged Zelenskyy to accept Putin’s terms for ending the war, such as to cede territory including the entire Donbas region. The meeting reportedly descended into a “shouting match” between the two. This will be particularly painful for the Ukrainians given how Zelenskyy arrived at Washington hoping to seal the deal for the supply of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles (Financial Times)

CMS Podcast of the Week:

Beretta Defense Technologies: EU Defence and the Dismounted Soldier | Putting the Soldier on the EU Defence Agenda

Coming Up This Week:

As the fallout continues after the second bust-up between Trump and Zelenskyy, we will be keeping an eye on NATO’s reaction, as it appears to dash hopes that Trump would cement his support for Ukraine by supplying the country with Tomahawks. Talks are expected to be taking place this week with European leaders over how to increase support to Ukraine and prepare for a Trump-Putin summit later this year.

On the domestic front, the House of Commons Defence Committee is returning this week with a session on AUKUS. BAE Systems, Babcock, and Rolls Royce are all due to give evidence.

As the biggest news story of the past week, the collapse of the China spy case remains one to watch closely. With pressing questions still needing answers from the government and CPS, this story shows no sign of abating soon.

 

Image: AS1 Leah Jones and is under UK MOD © Crown copyright 2025

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