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Stone plaque reading MINISTRY OF DEFENCE with a crown crest, set against blue-toned financial charts and graphs in the background by overlay.

Spending watchdog warns of drift at the Ministry of Defence

The Public Accounts Committee has delivered a stinging assessment of the Ministry of Defence's 2024-25 accounts, warning that years without a credible long-term plan have damaged the UK's credibility with allies and industry.
Mission control desk with multiple monitors displaying satellite maps of the Middle East and Indian Ocean; a high-backed chair in front of the setup.

Peer suggests UAE money could help fund defence plan

A former chief of the defence staff has suggested in the House of Lords that the wealth of Gulf allies such as the UAE might be tapped to help get the UK's delayed Defence Investment Plan over the line.
Orange and gray underwater robotic device suspended above dark blue water, with a metal frame and yellow/black fins visible on the side.

Support deal planned for Royal Navy mine disposal system

The Ministry of Defence intends to award a two-year, £12 million contract to keep the Royal Navy's Seafox mine disposal system in service, the underwater vehicle used by its Hunt and Sandown class vessels to find and destroy sea mines.

NAVAL NEWS

Why are all of Britain’s attack submarines in port?

Britain's force of attack submarines is all in port at the same time, the latest low point in an availability problem that has plagued the fleet for years, but what is going on?
Small aluminum motorboat gliding on a blue lake with a rocky shore in the background, grasses in the foreground.

Meet Katran X1.2, Ukraine’s swarming drone carrier

MAC HUB's Katran X1.2 is an uncrewed surface vessel built to act as a "mother ship" for swarms of AI-guided interceptor drones, hunting Shaheds at sea.

MPs press for scrutiny of rising nuclear spending

With nuclear programmes now consuming 18 per cent of the defence budget, the Public Accounts Committee says their costs are too opaque for Parliament to challenge, and has welcomed an agreement to set up a mechanism for closer scrutiny.
Mission control desk with multiple monitors displaying satellite maps of the Middle East and Indian Ocean; a high-backed chair in front of the setup.

Peer suggests UAE money could help fund defence plan

A former chief of the defence staff has suggested in the House of Lords that the wealth of Gulf allies such as the UAE might be tapped to help get the UK's delayed Defence Investment Plan over the line.
Orange and gray underwater robotic device suspended above dark blue water, with a metal frame and yellow/black fins visible on the side.

Support deal planned for Royal Navy mine disposal system

The Ministry of Defence intends to award a two-year, £12 million contract to keep the Royal Navy's Seafox mine disposal system in service, the underwater vehicle used by its Hunt and Sandown class vessels to find and destroy sea mines.

AVIATION NEWS

Defence plan delay has damaged UK credibility, MPs warn

The Public Accounts Committee says years without a credible long-term investment plan have weakened the UK's deterrent and has demanded the Ministry of Defence explain how it is shielding suppliers from the harm caused by the delay.

Denmark to buy long-range stealth cruise missiles from U.S.

The United States Department of State has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Denmark covering 200 AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles with Extended Range, with an estimated value of USD 842 million.

Autonomous weapons an ‘Oppenheimer moment’, peer warns

A Conservative peer has told the House of Lords that autonomous weapons may represent a threshold as significant as the arrival of nuclear arms, warning that, unlike nuclear weapons, they are cheap, scalable and hard to contain.

Britain explores ground-based air defence radar testing

The Ministry of Defence is sounding out industry on developing a ground-based system to test the accuracy of air defence radars, a method intended to replicate the flight checks currently flown to verify them.
White military cargo aircraft with a red star on the tail flying over a clear blue sky, four engines visible under the wings.

Russian military flights near UK rising, defence chief says

The head of the British military has said Russia has flown as many long-range strategic aircraft near the UK's northern approaches so far in 2026 as it did in the whole of 2025, in remarks warning that the country faces its most dangerous period since the Cold War.

LAND NEWS

Forces recruitment turns a corner but cause unclear, MPs say

More people are now joining the armed forces than leaving for the first time in years but the Ministry of Defence does not know whether its own measures drove the improvement or whether it can be sustained.

Unrealistic expectations placed on Ajax crews says PAC

The PAC has criticised the Ministry of Defence for placing unrealistic demands on how soldiers operate Ajax and has demanded to know how much the long-troubled programme will ultimately cost.

MoD accounts fail to support 6 billion of assets, MPs find

The Public Accounts Committee has called it "completely unacceptable" that the Ministry of Defence could not properly account for more than £6bn of assets, an error tied to historic Atomic Weapons Establishment spending.
Stone plaque reading MINISTRY OF DEFENCE with a crown crest, set against blue-toned financial charts and graphs in the background by overlay.

Spending watchdog warns of drift at the Ministry of Defence

The Public Accounts Committee has delivered a stinging assessment of the Ministry of Defence's 2024-25 accounts, warning that years without a credible long-term plan have damaged the UK's credibility with allies and industry.

Parliament to host Ukraine defence innovation roundtable

Graeme Downie MP has warned the UK must move away from "slow, traditional cycles" ahead of a parliamentary roundtable examining closer industrial collaboration with Ukraine.

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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