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New EU funding and procurement architecture for Ukraine shifts towards arms contracts
The European Commission has put forward a new two-year financial package designed to cover a large share of Ukraine’s forecast needs in 2026 and 2027, while tying a substantial portion of EU-level support more directly to defence procurement. The proposals,…
Britain’s Bold Bid to Spawn the Next Defence Unicorn: A £20m Fund Aims to Transform National Security and Tech Innovation
The UK government has launched a targeted £20 million initiative designed to unearth and accelerate the country’s next “defence unicorn”. Announced this week by Defence Secretary John Healey, the fund is tailored to fast-track small, innovative British firms into the Ministry…
Estonia Poised to Strengthen NATO’s Eastern Flank with Major Missile Buy
Estonia is poised to select a long-range missile defence system by the end of March 2026, a move that marks a major enhancement of its deterrent posture amid rising regional tensions. The decision, which follows years of sustained investment in…
Indonesia’s Rafale Deal Shows Europe’s Defence Industry Is Back in the Game
When Indonesia’s first Rafale fighter jets touched down at Roesmin Nurjadin Air Base this month, the moment carried significance far beyond Southeast Asia. Three French-built aircraft arriving on the tarmac in Sumatra may appear, at first glance, to be a…
Europe’s defence spending soars as Readiness 2030 takes shape
European defence budgets have risen sharply since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The latest consolidated EU figures show total defence expenditure by the 27 member states reached €343 billion in 2024, equivalent to 1.9 per cent of…
Brussels proposes €90bn EU loan scheme for Ukraine covering 2026–27
The European Commission has proposed a €90 billion EU-backed loan for Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, splitting the package between budget support and military procurement and linking disbursements to reform and oversight conditions. The Commission says it wants the first…
Ukraine prepares foreign-investment screening for defence sector amid Fire Point deal reports
Ukraine is drafting legislation to screen foreign investment in strategic sectors, including the defence-industrial complex, as the government seeks to attract capital for weapons production while increasing oversight of who takes stakes in sensitive assets. Hanna Hvozdyar, a deputy minister…
Europe’s gunpowder bottleneck: how cotton supply chains became a defence issue
Europe’s drive to expand artillery production has exposed a constraint that sits well upstream of the factory floor: access to nitrocellulose, the key chemical used in modern propellants. Nitrocellulose is produced by nitrating cellulose, and in the defence sector it…
March launch for EU SAFE defence lending, with early tranche planned
The European Union is preparing to make the first payments under its Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence loans in March 2026, in what officials describe as an attempt to accelerate joint procurement and address shortages in key military capabilities.…
Nightfall: Britain promises Ukraine a ballistic missile – but the hard part comes after the press release
Britain says it will help Ukraine by developing a new ground-launched ballistic missile able to carry a 200kg warhead beyond 500 kilometres. The project, codenamed Nightfall, is billed as a rapid boost to Kyiv’s long-range strike power. It is also,…