UK, Germany sign £200m deal for new combat bridge systems
The UK and Germany have agreed a joint contract to buy M3 EVO amphibious bridging vehicles, boosting NATO mobility and deepening bilateral defence ties.
The UK will invest £200m for 36 German-built M3 EVO systems, which can rapidly ferry tanks and heavy kit across wide rivers. Germany will also field the vehicles.
In return, Germany plans to buy the UK-built General Support Bridge, made by KNDS UK in Stockport, supporting around 300 UK jobs.
The new kit will replace the British Army’s 30-year-old M3 rigs and be operated by Royal Engineers in a joint UK-German engineer battalion. Rollout begins in the early 2030s.
Defence Minister Luke Pollard said the deal strengthens the British Army and shows the UK and Germany “working hand in hand” to reinforce NATO.
UK and Qatar sign new defence pact to boost joint readiness
The UK and Qatar have signed a new Defence Assurance Arrangement to deepen military cooperation across land, air and sea.
Defence Secretary John Healey agreed the deal in Doha with the Amir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The Ministry of Defence said the pact will improve interoperability, joint planning and operational coordination, strengthening both nations’ security and Gulf stability.
The agreement builds on the UK-Qatar Joint Typhoon Squadron and wider defence ties. Healey also held security talks with Qatari officials and visited RAF personnel at Al Udeid Air Base.
Beyond defence, Qatar has invested over £40bn in the UK, while UK exports to Qatar total £4.4bn. The MoD said the deal supports the UK’s Plan for Change by linking security partnerships to jobs and industrial growth at home.
FN Browning invests £13m in FN UK after £20m MoD deal
FN Browning Group is investing £13m in FN UK after winning a £20m, 10-year Ministry of Defence contract to upgrade and support the British Army’s L111A1 (.50 Cal) heavy machine gun.
The company says the funding will secure UK jobs, expand FN UK’s role in programmes like the Grayburn rifle replacement, and strengthen long-term industrial ties with the MoD. FN UK, now 50 years old, says it is the UK’s only maker of assault rifles and machine guns.
FN has also developed a new .50 Cal variant that is 40% lighter using composite materials, without losing performance.
Babcock secures £22m MoD training extension
Babcock has won a £22 million one-year extension from the Ministry of Defence to continue delivering electro-mechanical training for the Defence College of Technical Training.
The company will train around 5,000 Royal Navy, British Army and RAF personnel, and continue providing course design, delivery and equipment training on more than 2,500 systems, from weapons to armoured vehicles.
Over 300 Babcock staff support the programme at MOD Lyneham and HMS Sultan. Managing Director Jo Rayson said the extension will help ensure UK forces have the skills needed for frontline operations.
UK invests £4.5m in veteran housing
The UK has awarded £4.5 million to 19 housing providers to build and upgrade homes for veterans.
The funding will pay for new accommodation and essential repairs like boilers, roofs and accessibility improvements. It follows the opening of Valour House in London, which will provide long-term housing for ex-service personnel and their families.
Veterans Minister Louise Sandher-Jones said the government is acting on its promise that every veteran should have “a safe, secure place to call home.”
The Veterans Capital Housing Fund has now delivered over £12.5m. The MOD says Operation FORTITUDE has helped more than 1,000 veterans into housing so far.
UK approves £2.35bn Typhoon radar upgrade
The UK has set a £2.35bn budget to fit RAF Typhoon jets with the new ECRS Mk2 radar.
Defence Minister Luke Pollard said development is under way under the Eurofighter Phase 4 Enhancement programme, with production and integration to follow. The radar is due in service by the end of the decade, and the MOD is looking at ways to accelerate testing.
Built by Leonardo UK in Edinburgh and Luton, the ECRS Mk2 is an advanced electronically scanned array radar designed to boost Typhoon’s electronic warfare, targeting and tracking in hostile airspace.
MoD funds Solus Power’s Kratos portable battlefield battery
Solus Power has won UK MoD funding to accelerate Kratos, a rugged, modular lithium-ion power pack designed to give deployed forces silent, portable off-grid power.
Developed with DASA and Dstl for the Royal Navy’s Future Commando Force, Kratos is described as a Jerry can of electricity. Multiple units can be linked to power command posts, sensors, comms and medical kit without relying on noisy diesel generators.
Light enough to carry or mount on vehicles and drones, with a low heat and acoustic signature, Kratos is aimed at improving frontline endurance and reducing logistics burden across land, air and maritime operations.
ALL.SPACE and Aalyria Join Forces on Resilient Multi-Orbit Military Network
ALL.SPACE and Aalyria have partnered to deliver a battle-ready, multi-orbit communications network designed to survive jamming, cyber-attacks and anti-satellite threats.
The solution links ALL.SPACE’s Hydra terminal which can connect to multiple satellites and frequency bands at once with Aalyria’s Spacetime software, which constantly reroutes traffic to keep data flowing if a link is disrupted.
The goal is to give militaries uninterrupted, low-latency connectivity between sensors, command nodes and weapons across all domains, supporting US joint command-and-control efforts.
The companies will now demo the system for US and allied defence programmes.
ZeroAvia ships hydrogen fuel cell system to defence customer
ZeroAvia has delivered its first flight-ready Superstack Flex fuel cell system to a defence customer after completing airworthiness tests.
The modular LTPEM system is designed for high power at low weight, providing either propulsion or onboard electrical power for drones, light aircraft and other defence platforms. In testing, it sustained over 150 kW (peaking above 175 kW), achieved more than 1.2 kW/kg specific power, and ran for 100+ hours on 250 kg of hydrogen.
ZeroAvia says hydrogen fuel cells offer longer endurance, lower heat and noise signatures, and lower maintenance than conventional power. Additive manufacturing cut the system’s part count and weight by about 50%.
“This opens up new possibilities for civil and defence aviation,” said CEO Val Miftakhov.
Ploughshare Leonardo fast-track defence tech to market
Ploughshare has signed an agreement with Leonardo to turn military technologies into commercial products faster, aiming to boost UK prosperity and national security.
Ploughshare will help Leonardo identify underused IP in areas like sensors, autonomy and cyber, then license it, spin it out or bring it to market for civilian and dual-use applications.
The move aligns with the UK’s Strategic Defence Review 2025, which calls for wartime pace innovation and treats defence as an engine of growth.
Ploughshare says much UK defence tech is never commercialised. It has already created 16 spinouts, licensed 150+ technologies and supported 500 jobs.
Teledyne FLIR, Gremsy launch AI-ready thermal drone payloads
Teledyne FLIR OEM and Gremsy have unveiled two NDAA-compliant drone payloads using FLIR’s Boson+ thermal camera.
Lynx, ultra-light, dual EO/thermal payload for longer flight times in defence and public safety missions.
ORUS-L, rugged spherical payload with EO, radiometric thermal, and laser rangefinder, plus onboard NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX for real-time AI tracking and targeting at up to 100 km/h.
Both payloads are ITAR-free and built to accelerate deployment of autonomous aerial ISR.
3DPRINTUK gains JOSCAR boosts capacity
3DPRINTUK has achieved JOSCAR certification, clearing it to supply tightly regulated defence, aerospace and security programmes.
The London-based additive manufacturing bureau has also invested nearly £1m in two new HP 5210 Pro Systems, increasing its MJF fleet from eight to ten printers a 25% capacity boost.
CEO Nick Allen said the company now runs “a machine count that’s five times bigger than the average UK bureau,” allowing it to handle larger production runs of end-use parts.
JOSCAR accreditation confirms 3DPRINTUK meets strict standards on compliance, safety, environment, ethics and supply chain security.