Three Think‑Tank Perspectives on Defence Diplomacy
Abstract Over the past month, three analyses from distinct geographies (the United States, the Euro-Atlantic region, and the Indo-Pacific region) have examined how defense diplomacy shapes industrial bases, supply chains, and alliance-managed procurement. The GAO (US) report foregrounds risk stemming from dependence on foreign suppliers and proposes governance tools to improve supply‑chain visibility. The Atlantic […]
Link 16 phaseout: optics take the load
Link 16 phaseout is no longer a taboo subject. As the Space Development Agency (SDA) fields the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), leaders now frame laser communications as the practical bridge from PowerPoint to CJADC2 in the real world. Launches continue in tranches on a two‑year rhythm. Optical crosslinks and ground entry points are scaling, […]
VLPI: photonic integration for defence quantum systems
DARPA’s new Request for Information (RFI DARPA‑SN‑25‑88) on Very Large‑scale Photonic Integration marks a quiet but consequential turn in the U.S. defence approach to quantum hardware. The notice invites industry to propose how photonic integrated circuits (PICs) can scale from today’s tens‑to‑hundreds of components into coherent circuits with thousands—or conceivably millions—of photonic elements suitable for […]
Defence Agenda Evening Brief — 27 September 2025
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 […]
Naval USV autonomous launch & recovery advances
The U.S. Navy has started at‑sea trials of USV autonomous launch & recovery (ALR) using Sealartec’s system on the JPEM Stiletto testbed. This is a practical step toward distributed, crew‑light operations at sea. As a result, ships can handle small boats and USVs faster, with less risk and fewer people on deck. Why it matters […]
Is an Islamic NATO Emerging?
In the wake of Israel’s September 9 air‑launched ballistic‑missile strike that targeted Hamas figures meeting in Doha, the Gulf’s security furniture is being rearranged in plain sight. The episode jolted assumptions about US guarantees and stoked debate over an Islamic NATO—or, more realistically, a “6+2” framework linking the six GCC states with Türkiye and Egypt […]
Anduril Fury’s semi‑autonomous first flight
Anduril Fury semi-autonomous first flight is poised to set a different tone for the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. Rather than rushing to a basic hop, Anduril is insisting that the very first air run include push‑button taxi, takeoff, flight and landing executed by onboard autonomy—an aggressive choice meant to compress the […]
AMASS: adaptive swarms C2 for multi‑domain warfare
The U.S. Department of Defense’s AMASS (Autonomous Multi‑domain Adaptive Swarms‑of‑Swarms) initiative pushes adaptive swarms C2 from single‑swarm experiments toward coordinated, theater‑level orchestration across air, land, and maritime domains. By formalising requirements around common command languages, resilience, and cross‑swarm deconfliction, AMASS elevates unmanned teaming from boutique demonstrations to scalable operational architecture [1][2]. For defence primes and […]
Fujian launches J‑35 in catapult tests
Lead: China’s third carrier Fujian (Type 003) has publicly conducted CATOBAR trials with the J‑35 stealth fighter, J‑15T multirole jet and KJ‑600 AEW\&C. This is the first released sequence that shows launch, recovery and deck handling together. The milestone signals that the Fujian aircraft carrier J-35 pairing is moving from isolated clips to integrated carrier […]
Europe’s jamming‑resistant GPS push
Europe is moving fast to harden Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT). Jamming‑resistant GPS in Europe is no longer optional. It is now a safety and sovereignty issue. Recent interference in the Baltic Sea region has exposed weak points in aviation, shipping, and critical infrastructure.
NATO AEP‑107 refines sense‑and‑avoid for UAS
NATO has issued new versions of AEP‑107 (Edition B) and AEP‑107.1 (Edition A), updating minimum functional and performance requirements for sense‑and‑avoid (SAA) systems that enable Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to fly in unsegregated airspace. This is not a paperwork tweak. The NATO AEP‑107 sense‑and‑avoid framework now underpins Alliance‑wide interoperability through STANAG 4811 (Edition 3), tightening […]
Lockheed unveils Vectis stealth CCA
Lockheed Vectis stealth CCA is now public after its reveal at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference 2025. Skunk Works says it will build and flight‑test the Group 5 aircraft within two years. The concept favours survivability and deep‑strike relevance over disposable wingman ideas. In this piece, we explain what that means for U.S. and […]
MARNAV Block 2 resilient PNT demos set tone
The U.S. Marine Corps is pushing ahead with MARNAV Block 2 resilient PNT vendor demonstrations aimed at fielding M‑Code, NAVWAR‑ready, drop‑in replacements for legacy DAGR‑class receivers across combat platforms. Though the notices have drawn little mainstream coverage, the move matters: it signals a pivot to cheaper, faster, vehicle‑edge Assured PNT that can be bought at […]
Army 3D‑printed parts approval speeds repairs
The U.S. Army has moved to delegate frontline approval for additively manufactured components, enabling commanders to authorize and field small replacements without routing decisions to higher headquarters [1]. This step makes the policy intent explicit: accelerate fixes, return combat power to the line, and use the “right to repair” to close sustainment gaps in dispersed […]
Russia unveils Sarma 300mm MLRS
Russia has publicly shown the Sarma MLRS, a 300mm multiple launch rocket system on the KamAZ‑63501 (8×8) armored chassis, during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Motovilikha Plants in Perm. The display confirms that Moscow is pushing a mobility‑first iteration of heavy rocket artillery, trading the classic twelve‑tube layout for a six‑tube configuration that’s easier […]
DAFI 99‑103 test and evaluation update: what changes
The U.S. Department of the Air Force has rewritten its core DAFI 99‑103 test and evaluation instruction, issuing a Guidance Memorandum on 22 August 2025. The memo updates experimentation and reporting across the Air Force and the Space Force. It formalises capabilities‑based T&E, broadens USSF roles, and links early experimentation to acquisition choices. As a […]
Taiwan’s Barracuda‑500 Goes Local
Why this matters now Taipei has crossed an important line. The Barracuda‑500 Taiwan missile—an autonomous, low‑cost cruise missile designed by Anduril—will now be built in Taiwan by NCSIST via technology transfer. As China increases pressure, local production offers speed, resilience, and numbers.
Defence Agenda Evening Brief — 19 September 2025
19 September 2025, 09:00 (Europe/Istanbul) Executive Summary This week’s signals cluster around three arcs: (1) combat mass at cost from DSEI—MBDA’s SPEAR GLIDE and deployable AI at the edge (Thales, MARSS NiDAR)—aimed at saturating targets without saturating budgets; (2) operational integration—NATO’s REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger commenced in Portugal, advancing unmanned systems experimentation; (3) industrial pressure—Europe’s rare earth […]
NATO’s New Underwater Mission Network
Interoperability for the underwater fight—now on a NATO timeline NATO has tasked a Saab‑led consortium, MANGROVE, to deliver the Allied Underwater Battlespace Mission Network (AUWB‑MN). The goal is clear: knit together crewed and uncrewed maritime systems across allied fleets. The project began on 1 September 2025. Saab Kockums serves as prime. The first 12 months […]
IRYDA Plus: Poland’s Unmanned Drone‑Fighter
Poland has unveiled the IRYDA Plus unmanned counter-drone fighter—a pilotless interceptor positioned to tackle mini‑UAVs, drone swarms and loitering munitions with hard‑kill effects while slashing the cost‑exchange burden that dogs traditional air defence. A newly formed consortium of MBF Group S.A. (leader), Squadron Sp. z o.o. (ASE Group) and the Polish Industrial Lobby (PLP) launched […]