Defence Connect UK

How can the UK maintain an operational edge in an increasingly complex and contested environment? On 13th July, Defence Connect will be hosting a roundtable in Parliament on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), sensing & decision support, bringing together thought leaders from across Parliament and the defence ecosystem. We’ll be discussing the technologies, capabilities and policy considerations shaping the future of ISR, and the role they will play in delivering operational advantage for the UK. For organisations looking to engage with policymakers, contribute to informed discussion and build relationships across the defence and national security community, Defence Connect provides a unique independent forum. If you’re interested in attending this event, or learning more about becoming a Defence Connect Partner, please get in touch on here or via our website defenceconnect.org.uk. #Defence #NationalSecurity #ISR #DefenceTechnology #DefenceIndustry #Innovation

We’re delighted to be linking with Farnborough Aerospace Consortium, an organisation that has a great track record of supporting the UK aerospace and defence sectors. We look forward to working together to strengthen connections across the defence and national security community, share insights, and create new opportunities for collaboration!

John Healey’s resignation has sharpened the debate around the UK’s delayed Defence Investment Plan. Can the companies expected to deliver the Strategic Defence Review invest with confidence when the government’s own settlement is now openly contested? The SDR and Defence Industrial Strategy place industry at the centre of UK defence modernisation. Turning that ambition into real capability will depend on a Defence Investment Plan that gives companies, from primes to SMEs, the clarity to invest before the cost of waiting becomes harder to absorb. Read the full article below. #UKDefence #DefenceIndustry #StrategicDefenceReview #DefenceInnovation

📣 We’re delighted to welcome Uplift360 as a Partner of Defence Connect! Uplift360 is on a mission to revolutionise the regeneration of advanced materials for the defence, aerospace and space sectors. Their technologies enable the extraction of highly valuable materials, helping to reduce costs, avoid landfill and strengthen supply chain resilience. By reducing reliance on fragile supply chains and supporting greater industrial sovereignty, Uplift360 is helping address a key challenge facing defence manufacturing.

📣 We’re delighted to welcome Mind Foundry as a Partner of Defence Connect! Mind Foundry is a UK sovereign AI company spun out of the University of Oxford, advancing capability across Defence and National Security. Mind Foundry’s products and technical services enhance operations with connected intelligence by turning complex sensor data into trusted insights, accelerating decision-making and putting AI in human hands where it matters most. 

🇬🇧 Our roundtable event in Parliament yesterday focused on sovereign capability and supply chain security in UK defence. The discussion brought together parliamentarians, industry experts and investors to explore how the UK can strengthen industrial resilience and maintain critical defence capability. Thank you to everyone who joined us to engage in this important discussion. Particular thanks to: ⭐ Gagan Mohindra MP and his team for hosting (Grace Thomas, Nikhil Williams) ⭐ MPs, Peers and their team members who joined and brought insights to the discussion, including Lord Marland Member of the National Resilience Committee, David Reed MP, Dr Al Pinkerton MP, Jonathan Hinder MP, Piers Baker, Dominic Lynch ⭐ Paul Athans, Political Advisor to James Cartlidge, the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence and former Minister for Defence Procurement ⭐ Our excellent speakers: Rt Hon Dame Penny Mordaunt, former Secretary of State for Defence and current Chair of SubSea Craft Limited; Zakiy Manji, Director of Parliamentary Relations at BAE Systems; Hugo Jammes, former Managing Partner of NSSIF and current General Partner at EDT Ventures ⭐ Industry representatives including David Crowe from Agilexe, Dan Alexander from SubSea Craft Limited, Nicolas Clark-Majerus from Uplift360, Christian Wragg from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Ines Nastali from S&P Global, Jason Hewitt from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, Luke S. from Auterion, Francis J. Jones (FRSA) from BattleBottle, Thomas Kira from Cambridge Programming ⭐ Parvina Huseynova from our Advisory Team for chairing the event Discussion covered procurement reform, scaling UK manufacturing, investment into defence SMEs, supply chain vulnerabilities and the challenge of turning UK innovation into operational capability at speed. Speakers also highlighted growing concerns around dependence on overseas production in areas such as batteries, semiconductors and critical technologies. Following the discussion, Defence Connect will continue identifying key areas where Parliament may benefit from further engagement and research around sovereign capability, industrial resilience and supply chain security. These discussions will help shape future work and policy papers. If you're interested in contributing to this work or partnering with Defence Connect, we would be delighted to hear from you. Message us on here or via our website: www.defenceconnect.org.uk #SovereignCapability #SupplyChainSecurity #DefenceTech #DefenceInnovation #UKDefence

📄 Defence Connect has published its first policy paper following our roundtable in Parliament on autonomy and AI-enabled systems in UK defence, hosted by Will Stone MP. The paper brings together insights from across the defence ecosystem to identify key barriers to adopting AI and autonomous systems, highlight priority areas for policy and parliamentary attention, and set out practical steps to support faster and more effective capability development. Thank you to everyone who has supported this work, including our industry Partners: Agilexe, ARX Robotics, Leonardo, Mishcon de Reya LLP, Scipio, SteelRock Capital, SubSea Craft Limited, and our Advisory Team: Ryan Henson, Parvina Huseynova, Toby McCrindle We'll be working on our next policy paper on sovereign capability and supply chain security later this month!

🥁 Quick Update - Publication Timing for MOD Annual SME Action Plan and then DIP 📅 At the end of last week, MOD clarified its timings, a little, on the emergence of its latest SME Action Plan (cover page of the last one, from January 2022, appended below for illustration) - and the Defence Investment Plan. 📅In essence, this written answer, https://lnkd.in/exHFrtcc, states that "On current plans, the MOD’s full annual SME action plan, including direct spending target will not be published concurrently with the Defence Investment Plan. The action plan which will include a spending target are currently forecast to be published in the second quarter of 2026". 📅The first half of the commitment above is fully in keeping with MOD's holding statement of 24 March on how they are supporting SMEs in advance of the Action Plan, view https://lnkd.in/eEWdqVeV ❓ The second half of that commitment implies that both the Action Plan and the DIP may ("currently") be issued by the end of June but "Hansard-ology" can be as much an art as "Kremlin-ology", whilst Whitehall calendars do not necessarily match normal seasons. #MOD #SMEs #DefenceIndustrialStrategy

🇬🇧 Our next roundtable event is lined up for 18th May in Parliament, where we will be discussing the UK's sovereign capability and supply chain security. This topic is even more important now than it has been in recent years. We want to understand what more we can do to ensure the UK retains the industrial base, skills and supply chains needed to maintain defence sovereignty. Please get in touch via our website to find out more and support us: https://lnkd.in/eMCPvS65

Defence Connect exists because the future of warfare is becoming reality now. A whole of society approach is necessary for us to prepare and deter. Zelensky has said that in Ukraine, "For the first time in the history of this war, an enemy position was taken exclusively by unmanned platforms — ground systems and drones." https://lnkd.in/dvdAJyWj