October Defense Trade Newsletter Hightlights

Highlights

Hegseth to unveil arms sale overhaul -Secretary of Defense Hegseth is planning to announce reforms to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Nov. 7 to increase the speed of weapons production and arms exports. The reforms are intended to streamline acquisitions, involve smaller tech firms in the defense sector and better align U.S. weapons development with the needs of partners and allies.

EU to be ‘ready’ for war with Russia by 2030 – The European Commission has approved the Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030 to develop a European defense posture to deter adversaries and respond to aggressions. The roadmap seeks to fill EU capability gaps in nine areas: “air and missile defense, enablers, military mobility, artillery systems, AI and cyber, missile and ammunition, drones and anti-drones, ground combat and maritime.”

European Union agrees on €1.5 billion defence industry programme to support readiness and Ukraine -The European Parliament and the Council on the European Defense Industry Programme (EDIP) reached an agreement for a €1.5 billion budget for 2025-2027 to support joint procurement, industrial ramp-up and the implementation of the Defense Readiness Roadmap of 2030. The program includes targeted measures focused on production scale-up, supply chain, SMEs and the development of Ukraine’s defense technological and industrial base.

Germany’s new €377B military wish list– German Chancellor Friedrich Merz aims to build the Bundeswehr into the “strongest conventional army in Europe,” and is in the process of developing a strategy that lays out roughly €377 billion in desired buys across land, air, sea, space and cyber. A draft document acquired by Politico provides an overview of desired purchases for Germany’s 2026 military budget, which also acts as a comprehensive roadmap for Germany’s defense overhaul.

UK Sets Out Aggressive Goals to Grow Defense Industry– The United Kingdom (UK) plans to invest £75 billion over six years to become a leading “tech-enabled defense power” by 2035, boosting defense spending to 3.5% of GDP and doubling defense exports to £28 billion. The new Defence Industrial Strategy includes investments into regional defense hubs, technical colleges and innovation funds with the goals of creating defense sector jobs, attracting foreign investment and strengthening allied partnerships.

Europe’s space merger blasts off: Airbus, Leonardo, Thales sign ‘pivotal milestone’ pact – Airbus, Leonardo and Thales have signed a pact to merge their space businesses to compete against SpaceX, with a forecasted annual turnover of about $7.5 billion. The companies highlighted their intention to strengthen European innovation, capability, strategic autonomy and competitiveness through this merger.

Trump: U.S. to share nuclear sub tech with South Korea, build boats in Philly – Trump announced the United States will share nuclear submarine propulsion technology with South Korea, allowing Seoul to build its own nuclear-powered submarines at the Hanwha-owned Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia.

Tokyo moves closer to fielding U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles – Japan is upgrading the JS Chokai destroyer with Tomahawk cruise missiles in the United States. Japan intends to equip eight destroyers with Tomahawks, including two currently under construction.

Trump affirms support for nuclear sub deal – President Trump confirmed the United States will move “full steam ahead” with the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact with Australia and the U.K. during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Trump and Albanese also signed an AUD $8.5 billion agreement to jointly invest in critical minerals and rare-earth supply chains, aiming to reduce reliance on China amid growing trade tensions.