Farnborough Airshow was the commercial epicentre for the past month for the defence, space, and military and civilian aerospace sectors. Boeing led the order book for the first time in years, despite some of the organisation’s recent financial strains and delivery issues. Marketing and commercial teams should note the success of a positive, front-footed, quality-focused push personally led by CEO Kelly Ortberg.
Boeing Signals Signs of Recovery as Airlines Show Continued Confidence at Farnborough Airshow — Business Insider
With the FCAS programme cancelled prior to the show, GCAP received a further boost as the only rival to the US F-47 programme, after GCAP came through the UK’s Defence Investment Plan wrangle largely intact. Possible participation from Canada piqued interest, and firms ranging from SMEs to major players such as Airbus examined opportunities to get involved.
What We Learned About GCAP at The Farnborough Airshow — Breaking Defense
Across the UK and Europe, the threat from Russia continued to be the driving motivation for increased spending and integration.
Russia Could Attack NATO Countries “Within Months” to Test Alliance Unity — MILITARNYI
Commercially, a more integrated ecosystem between Ukraine and European partners continued to emerge – examples include Ukrainian company Fire Point drawing in key European primes for the Freyja missile defence programme, as well as UFORCE taking its underwater drone activity to the UK. But the anticipated Lviv Defence Tech Valley conference in September – on many companies’ must-attend lists – had to be postponed following Russian strikes.
Defense Tech Valley Postponed — Brave1
And Ukrainian ambassador to the UK Valerii Zaluzhny delivered this month’s starkest warning that despite all this activity, vastly more remains needed for NATO members to be war-ready.
Nato a Decade Behind Russia on Battlefield, Warns Kyiv’s Ambassador to UK — The Times
While Iran, Cuba, and Greenland take the political airtime, Lockheed Martin made a commercially significant move to strengthen its supply chain in critical minerals. Other primes and even mid-tiers may be compelled to follow suit with significant pressure from the US administration to insulate critical supply chains from China.
Lockheed Martin Explores US Critical Mineral Supplies Amid Push for More Secure Supply Chains — Breaking Defense
In more good news for Lockheed Martin and its supply chain, the US moved to expand production of Patriot and THAAD missile interceptors. The Signal has highlighted this weakness in US industrial capacity before, and these items are critical to US allies, as well.
US to Boost Patriot and THAAD Interceptor Production as Missile Stockpiles Come Under Pressure — Times of India
Led by Applied Research Institute (ARI) and Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the US has effectively been using solutions marketplaces to rapidly procure innovative technologies, aided by industry experts and AI. SMEs in counter-drone technology will be boosted by a specific marketplace for their offerings across different mission types.
Pentagon Contracts with AI Software Company to Develop Counter-Drone Marketplace — Inside Defense
Political rhetoric in the US and Australia has not always been kind to the AUKUS alliance recently – but looking at actions, it is powering forward on shipbuilding and submarine capacity increases. Greater commercial framework integration and skills sharing are the next key needs for the alliance to be able to work together on advanced technologies.
AUKUS Alliance Advances Shipbuilding and Submarine Capabilities as Focus Shifts to Technology Collaboration — The Australian
Despite some moves in the US to try to create a domestic chip manufacturing base, most of the world lacks resilience for what Taiwan’s role is critical to both civilian and defence supply chains. Taiwan’s largest-ever training exercise now also looks at communications disruption and civilian industry resilience, and is a vital signal of industrial capability as well as military capability.
Taiwan Launches Major War Games to Test Command Flexibility — Reuters
Like many nations in Europe, including the UK, Japan is now also casting its defence spending as a matter of national economic prosperity, as well as national security.
Japan Casts Military Buildup as Path to Economic Prosperity — Reuters
Stay tuned for our next news update. In the meantime, check out our defence and advanced technologies page for more information.
