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 […]
ISO 24113 revision could reset space‑debris rules
NASA and ISO delegates are moving to accelerate the next update of the ISO 24113 space debris standard, a quiet but consequential change that could alter compliance baselines for satellites, launch stages and debris‑generating components used across defence space programmes. For primes and Tier‑1 suppliers, the fifth edition of ISO 24113—now being prepared earlier than […]
MBDA Unveils SPEAR GLIDE
MBDA Unveils SPEAR GLIDE at DSEI 2025 MBDA has introduced MBDA SPEAR GLIDE, a lower‑cost precision glide weapon designed to boost combat mass and speed up fielding. Announced at DSEI 2025, the variant complements SPEAR and SPEAR‑EW with an attritable option built for high‑rate production. It targets contested airspace and tight budgets, where affordability, adaptability, […]
China’s LY‑1 Laser Air Defense
China’s new LY-1 laser air defense system drew global attention after its public debut during Beijing’s 80th‑anniversary Victory Day parade on 3 September 2025. Presented as a shipborne layer that can also operate from land vehicles, LY‑1 signals an accelerated move to hard‑kill low, slow, small threats and to degrade optical seekers on faster missiles […]
EU Faces New Rare Earth Squeeze
European manufacturers are again confronting material shortages and line stoppages as China’s rare earth export controls tighten, despite assurances from the July summit to fast-track licenses for EU firms. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China warns that approvals have slowed only weeks after the Beijing summit, with fewer than one in four tracked […]
Russia tests FPV rocket drone interceptor
Russia has begun field testing an FPV rocket drone interceptor that blends tube launch, a detachable solid‑fuel booster and first‑person‑view control to chase hostile UAVs. The design—credited to the “Vektor” group—aims to give infantry a cheap kinetic option between jammers and high‑end missiles, using 3D‑printed, reloadable launch tubes and modular projectiles. The approach reflects a […]
REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger 2025 Begins
NATO has launched REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger 2025 off Portugal’s Atlantic coast. This event pairs a technology-heavy experimentation campaign with an operational phase that pushes prototypes toward fleet use. The Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems (REPMUS) series now runs alongside Dynamic Messenger, creating a continuum from lab to ship to task group. According to […]
Rearming the Defence Industrial Base
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced capitals to rediscover an unfashionable truth: production is deterrence. The immediate lesson for policymakers is that defence industrial base readiness—from stockpiles to surge capacity and workforce—is now a strategic variable, not a back‑office concern [1]. In a world of rapid, cheap battlefield innovation, nations that can refresh sensors, munitions and […]
Reaper Exports Unlocked by MTCR Rethink
Why Washington’s reinterpretation matters now The State Department has approved a U.S. drone export policy shift that reclassifies large armed unmanned aerial systems (UAS) like the MQ‑9 Reaper as aircraft—handled similarly to F‑16‑class fighter sales—rather than as missile systems under the 1987 Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) [1]. The change, signed off by Secretary of […]
SANCAR AUSV completes live‑fire trials
The SANCAR AUSV live‑fire trials in the Marmara Sea confirmed a clear milestone for Türkiye’s unmanned surface warfare. The platform linked a stabilized 12.7 mm weapon to ADVENT ROTA and hit targets under fleet supervision. In short, SANCAR advanced from demonstration to an operationally credible node in the Navy’s digital kill chain [1]. What the […]
UK to Field AI Drone Swarms
Britain is moving fast on autonomy. The Ministry of Defence plans to field UK AI drone swarms and unmanned ground vehicles at scale within five years [1]. This shift is anchored in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) 2025 and recent answers by Defence Minister Luke Pollard. Together, they place AI, autonomy, and a shared digital […]
TALAY: Sea‑Skimming WIG Combat Drone
Türkiye fields a production‑ready wing‑in‑ground (WIG) maritime UAV that flies inside the radar horizon—and rewrites littoral strike math. Turkey’s TALAY—described by its developer Solid Aero as the world’s first production‑ready sea‑skimming multipurpose UAV—blends the aerodynamic efficiency of a wing‑in‑ground (WIG) craft with the signature management of a low‑flying drone. The result is a new class […]
MKE anti-drone systems at DSEI
MKE anti-drone systems took center stage at DSEI, where Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE) detailed a sweeping agenda: international co‑production deals, a multi‑site explosives capacity build‑out worth roughly $818 million, and a strategic pivot from legacy munitions to smart effects and autonomous platforms. Speaking in London, General Manager İlhami Keleş framed the moment succinctly: Türkiye’s […]
PARS İZCİ 6×6 and 8×8 enter TSK
Türkiye has inducted PARS İZCİ 6×6 and 8×8 reconnaissance and mission‑specific armored vehicles into the Turkish Land Forces (TSK). The Ministry of National Defence announced the decision at its weekly briefing. The fleet brings multi‑sensor fusion, modern command‑and‑control (C2), and fast wheeled mobility. As a result, units gain quicker and safer situational awareness at the […]
ASELSAN KORAL Modernization Completed
ASELSAN KORAL modernization boosts Türkiye’s EW edge with upgraded subsystems. Read our analysis and implications. ASELSAN KORAL modernization marks a deliberate step in Türkiye’s push to dominate the electromagnetic spectrum, with the land‑based electronic support (ES) and electronic attack (EA) system upgraded across critical subsystems to meet emerging threat sets and multi‑target scenarios. Key Facts […]
Drone Cost-Exchange Ratio Is Rewriting War
Cheap drones now force costly defenses. As a result, budgets strain, tactics shift, and procurement must catch up. In modern conflicts, the drone cost-exchange ratio is a decisive factor. When a cheap unmanned system triggers a premium response, the defender loses money fast. Today, we see this in Poland’s airspace alerts, in daily fights over […]
Drones vs Helicopters: Logistics War
For decades, helicopter air assault symbolised deep-strike prowess. Today, drones vs helicopters is the real contest: low‑cost, persistent drone mining can suffocate logistics at scale while manned assaults gamble on shock and speed [1]. Key Facts Mission geometry: Helicopter assaults demand dozens of airframes, escorts and SEAD/DEAD; drone‑laid mines demand small teams and expendable platforms […]
Fighter Market Shifts to MUM‑T
Manned‑Unmanned Teaming (MUM‑T) is rapidly becoming the decisive market differentiator for fighter aircraft, allowing 4.5–5th generation platforms to remain operationally relevant while sixth‑generation programs mature. At DSEI 2025 and across recent tenders, air forces increasingly evaluate not just jets but full ecosystems—crewed fighters orchestrating loyal wingmen, UCAVs and air‑launched effects via standardized data links and […]