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Cracked red silhouette of China with yellow stars over a rising stock chart background.

Five Eyes warn of Chinese spies posing as job recruiters

Chinese military intelligence officers are posing as recruiters on sites such as LinkedIn, Indeed and Upwork to lure people with access to sensitive information into writing paid reports, the Five Eyes agencies have warned in a joint bulletin setting out how the approach works.

Covenant legal duty does not cover RFA staff, minister says

The Armed Forces Covenant does not extend to Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel, a defence minister has said, though some who have served on operations may be considered in its spirit.
Eight people pose for a group photo in a manufacturing plant, standing in front of large automated equipment and conveyors.

Navantia installs new cutting line in Methil upgrade

Navantia UK has installed a new plasma cutting line at its Methil yard in Fife as part of a GBP 27 million investment in the site, with the shipbuilder reporting a growing workforce and a recently delivered transport barge for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

NAVAL NEWS

No firm in-service date for HMS Venturer

The first Type 31 frigate, HMS Venturer, is still only committed to being handed to the Royal Navy "by the end of the decade", a defence minister has said, declining to give a firm initial operating capability date.

UK yet to board any shadow fleet vessels

No Russian shadow fleet vessel has been boarded in British waters since the government took the power to do so, with the Ministry of Defence declining to give any figures.

Covenant legal duty does not cover RFA staff, minister says

The Armed Forces Covenant does not extend to Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel, a defence minister has said, though some who have served on operations may be considered in its spirit.
Eight people pose for a group photo in a manufacturing plant, standing in front of large automated equipment and conveyors.

Navantia installs new cutting line in Methil upgrade

Navantia UK has installed a new plasma cutting line at its Methil yard in Fife as part of a GBP 27 million investment in the site, with the shipbuilder reporting a growing workforce and a recently delivered transport barge for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Britain confirms no cuts to Type 26 frigate order plans

The Royal Navy will still receive all eight Type 26 frigates despite build slots being offered to Norway, Minister Luke Pollard has told Parliament, as the two countries work toward a combined fleet of 13 vessels.

AVIATION NEWS

Air Force One parked on a sunny tarmac with stairs deployed to the door and crew nearby

Chinese student admits photographing US military jets

A University of Glasgow aeronautical engineering student has pleaded guilty in the United States to photographing military aircraft at a Nebraska air base.
Silhouette of a military helicopter flying at sunset against a fiery orange sky.

Royal Navy Merlin helicopter crashes in Devon

A Royal Navy Merlin helicopter has come down in a field near Sourton in Devon in the early hours of Wednesday, prompting a large emergency services response.

SPEAR 3 integration on F-35B a priority, says minister

The Ministry of Defence's immediate focus is finalising the integration of the SPEAR 3 missile onto the F-35B, Defence Minister Luke Pollard has said.
Two men in formal attire stand beside a silver fighter jet on a stage, with a large Brazilian flag backdrop behind them and the cockpit visible to the right.

Saab rolls out first two-seat Gripen F for Brazil

Saab has presented the first Gripen F, the two-seat version of its Gripen E fighter, developed with Brazilian industry and rolled out at the company's facilities in Linköping ahead of a flight test campaign.
Military aircraft in flight over coastal mountains with colorful radar/flight data overlays projected on the cockpit view.

Leonardo Seaspray radar picked for Australian surveillance

Leonardo's Seaspray radar has been selected to equip aircraft providing aerial surveillance for Australia's border and maritime agencies, fitted to a fleet operated on the government's behalf by services provider Metrea.

LAND NEWS

Military jacket with unit patches: Ukrainian flag patch above a round Interflex patch featuring a stylized red creature over a blue-yellow background.

UK training for Ukraine shifts to specialist skills

Operation Interflex, the UK-led programme that has trained more than 63,000 Ukrainians since 2022, is entering a new phase moving away from mass infantry training towards specialist areas including aviation, medical, engineering and logistics.

Future of Army Reserve training at Grantham unresolved

The Ministry of Defence has said it cannot yet confirm how Army Reserve basic training will be delivered once the Grantham barracks closes, or what any change would cost, pointing to a review of training across the UK due to report in autumn 2026.
Man in a dark suit and striped red tie speaks at a conference table, gesturing with hands in mid-sentence.

Back-loading defence budget ‘a disaster’, MPs told

Putting off the bulk of Britain's planned increase in defence spending until the years immediately before the 2035 target would be a serious mistake, the Director-General of Make UK Defence Andrew Kinniburgh has warned MPs.
Three panelists seated at a conference table with nameplates for Andrew Kinniburgh, Lucia Retter, and Max Warner in front of them.

Defence firms being ‘de-banked’, MPs told

A growing number of British defence firms are struggling to get bank overdrafts and working capital, the Treasury Committee has heard.
Cracked red silhouette of China with yellow stars over a rising stock chart background.

Five Eyes warn of Chinese spies posing as job recruiters

Chinese military intelligence officers are posing as recruiters on sites such as LinkedIn, Indeed and Upwork to lure people with access to sensitive information into writing paid reports, the Five Eyes agencies have warned in a joint bulletin setting out how the approach works.

Features

Harland and Wolff's Belfast yard is undergoing a major overhaul under Navantia UK, with new steel-processing lines, upgraded facilities and workforce expansion aimed at supporting Fleet Solid Support and future naval construction.
We went behind the scenes at Thales UK’s optronics site in Glasgow, where the same people who build periscopes and sighting systems for the armed forces are also opening paths into engineering for young people across the city.

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