Weekly Defence Rundown 29th September – 5th October 2025

Party Conference season was in full flow last week, with Labour’s annual conference taking place in Liverpool. In what was widely viewed as one of his most successful moments since entering government last year and pivotal to rallying the Party behind him, Starmer delivered an impassioned speech attacking Reform UK. The Conservative Party Conference also began on Sunday in Manchester

The most shocking event of the week however, was the terrorist attack outside a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday, which killed two and left three in a serious condition. Occurring on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar, the attack highlighted the rise in antisemitism in the UK, with Starmer leaving the European Political Community summit in Denmark early to chair a Cobra meeting.

As negotiations over Trump’s Gaza peace plan commence, key to the proposal is the appointment of ex-PM Tony Blair as co-chair of a “Board of Peace” – an international body to oversee the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Also on the geopolitical front, Baroness Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5 has stated that those who think the UK is already at war with Russia “may be right”.

Defence Brief: Key Insights from the Week        

• Russia jamming UK military satellites on a weekly basis, defence chief warns (The Telegraph)
• MI6’s new chief aims to restore British influence in Middle East (The Times)
• Britons should stock up ready for war, says ex-Nato chief (The Times)
• Ukraine accuses China of aiding Russian strikes with satellite data (The Times)
• British companies forced to test drones abroad because of UK red tape (The Times)
• Veterans begin legal battle over ‘faulty’ combat earplugs (The Telegraph)
• Chinese military carry out ‘constructive kills’ on Royal Navy vessels (The Times)
• Ex-MI5 chief says those who think UK already at war with Russia ‘may be right’ (Sky News)
• Parachute Regiment recruits sent on the wrong training course in major Army blunder (The i Paper)
• Pentagon quadrupling missile production to counter China (The Telegraph)

Industry Latest:

• Royal Navy Wildcat achieves IOC with Sea Venom (Calibre Defence)
• UK MoD invest £320m in new defence equipment platform (Army Technology)
• MBDA awarded TESEO MK2/E contract for Italian Navy (Calibre Defence)
• UK retires Reaper as Protector takes on unmanned ISTAR and strike roles (Janes)
• US Army reignites self-propelled howitzer competition after ATI pause (Breaking Defense)
• Leonardo extends Eurofighter support deal with Kuwait (UK Defence Journal)
• Rheinmetall to build $321m artillery ammunition plant in Latvia (Army Technology)
• Elbit Systems secures $120m contract for Hermes 900 (Calibre Defence)

Direct from Government:

• Critical UK satellites to be defended from laser threats (MoD Press Release)
• Boost to jobs and military capability with new defence equipment system (MoD Press Release)
• Scottish defence skills and jobs boost as welding facility secured through new Government funding (MoD Press Release)

News from Further Afar:

• In a shakeup designed to reform Germany’s infamously slow procurement cycles and overlapping lines of command, the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, General Carsten Breuer, will now be in command of a single “armed forces” directorate with a remit covering military planning, troop readiness, and operations (Politico)
• New data suggests that Russia has modified its Iskander-M mobile system and Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles to evade Ukraine’s air defences, including the US Patriot air defence system. According to the Centre for Information Resilience, while in August, Ukraine’s ballistic missile interception rate reached 37%, by September, it had plunged to 6% (Financial Times)
• The US government has shut down for the first time in nearly seven years, after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach an agreement to fund the federal government into the new fiscal year. The shutdown will result in the furlough of around 750,000 workers, while employees whose work is considered essential will continue to work, many without pay (Financial Times)
• The White House has published an executive order signed by President Trump, promising to defend Qatar in the event of an attack from another country. The order, which states that the White House now considers “any armed attack” on Qatar “as a threat to the peace and security of the United States” bears a remarkable similarity to NATO’s Article 5 security guarantee (Politico)
• Almost 800 US generals and admirals gathered in Virginia for the much anticipated and last minute summit called by defence secretary Pete Hegseth. In a surprising turn, Hegseth called for a new “war fighting culture”, blaming “woke” Pentagon policies and “fat” generals for leaving the US unprepared for war. Trump also spoke at the event, suggesting that US cities be used as military training grounds and promised to expand the military’s deployment on US soil (Financial Times)
• European and Middle Eastern leaders have welcomed the US peace plan for Gaza, which has been agreed by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netenyahu. The 20-point plan includes an immediate end to fighting and the release within 72 hours of 20 living Israeli hostages, as well as the remains of over 20 hostages who are believed to be dead, in exchange for hundreds of detained Gazans. While Hamas has initially agreed to release all the remaining hostages, the group is seeking further negotiations on the future of Gaza and the rights of Palestinians (BBC)

CMS Podcast of the Week:

Defence Talks: Securing UK Advantage | Emerging technologies: Transforming the future of defence

Coming Up This Week:

Negotiations between Hamas, Israel, and the US are set to start in Egypt to finalise details of the first phase of Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, which includes a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages.

In an unexpected announcement, France’s Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned after less than a month in office, making him the third prime minister appointed and to leave office since Macron’s snap parliamentary elections in summer 2024. All eyes will now be on who the President will appoint next, as well as the diminishing likelihood that parliament will put a budget in place by the end of the year.

The Conservative Party Conference continues this week, with Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride calling for benefits to be reserved for UK citizens and arguing that Reform UK is “marching to the left”. CMS will continue to monitor any defence-related announcements; however with the Party currently polling at around 15%, it seems likely that this Conference will be more subdued than last year’s, which took place during the leadership race.

Starmer is travelling to Mumbai this week to meet with India’s Narendra Modi with a tech and security partnership at the top of the agenda. As reported by Politico, Starmer and Modi will speak at the world’s largest fintech festival, after which they will join ministers and officials in talks to advance the 2024 UK-India Technology Security Initiative (TSI).

 

Image: LPhot Stainer- Hutchins and is under UK MOD © Crown copyright 2025

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