Subscription Form
defence evening brief

27 September 2025, 18:00 (Europe/Istanbul)

Executive Summary

Defence agenda evening brief: USV launch & recovery, Link 16 shift, HÜRJET–Spain, IAC outreach, SAHA updates—absolute dates, unknowns marked. The past week delivered tangible autonomy progress at sea, a candid Pentagon-adjacent debate over the long-term future of Link 16, and a visible uptick in Türkiye’s aerospace diplomacy. The U.S. Navy’s trials of autonomous launch & recovery for small boats/USVs suggest a path to lower-risk distributed ops. Meanwhile, senior voices continue to flag a gradual—not imminent—phaseout trajectory for Link 16 as optical links mature. On the industrial diplomacy front, Spain–Türkiye ties were spotlighted by a high-profile HÜRJET flight, while IAC 2025 in Sydney is being used to prime IAC 2026 Antalya outreach. Domestically, SAHA MBA community engagement and SAHA 2026 historical stats work advanced. One geopolitics item regarding an alleged Israel–Qatar missile incident remains TBC pending authoritative confirmation.

Latest Items

Gaps & Risks

  • Verification risk: The alleged Israel–Qatar missile incident is TBC; numeric claims and platform IDs withheld pending authoritative statements.
  • Interoperability risk: Link 16 deprecation narratives can be over-interpreted; ensure copy stresses gradual migration and bridge solutions, not abrupt cut-off.
  • At-sea autonomy risk: Launch/recovery performance may be sea-state dependent; avoid implying thresholds not stated in test documentation.
  • Bilateral flight optics: HÜRJET–Spain framing should distinguish demonstration optics from formal procurement steps unless formalised.
  • Historic metrics: SAHA 2018/2021 figures still have gaps; do not extrapolate. Mark as TBC where sources are incomplete.

Next 7 Days Plan (Owner: Muzaffer Ünsaldı)

  1. 28 Sep: Finalise and publish USV autonomous launch & recovery brief with captioned imagery and alt text.
  2. 29 Sep: Publish Link 16 phaseout? explainer with SDA optical comms context and migration pathways.
  3. 29–30 Sep: Spain–HÜRJET article: align English copy, add absolute flight date/time; request/clear imagery; procurement language check.
  4. 30 Sep: IAC 2025 Sydney outreach note—embed Antalya 2026 milestones and pavilion roster; add contact block.
  5. 01 Oct: SAHA MBA Gathering post—CTA for registration; include logistics and key attendees.
  6. 02 Oct: SAHA 2018/2021 stats—source pass to fill gaps; update history article with citations.
  7. Rolling: OSINT audit on Israel–Qatar report; publish only if corroborated by primary sources; else keep as Developing.
  8. Rolling: Prepare “adaptive swarms” primer with internal link-through to prior AMASS/C2 coverage.

References

  1. Defence Agenda — Naval USV autonomous launch & recovery
  2. Defence Agenda — Link 16 phaseout debate
  3. Defence Agenda — HÜRJET–Spain cooperation
  4. Defence Agenda — IAC outreach
  5. Defence Agenda — SAHA MBA Gathering
  6. Defence Agenda — SAHA 2026 history update
  7. Defence Agenda — Qatar–Israel incident analysis (TBC)
  8. Defence Agenda — Adaptive swarms signals

Note: Items above are based on materials shared between 21–27 September 2025. Where external corroboration is required, pieces are held at TBC status.

Subscribe to Defence Agenda