Technology - MGG Geopolitics

Germany Funds 50,000 AI-Guided Drones Built to Hunt Through Russian Jamming

Germany is financing 50,000 Ukrainian attack drones equipped with US-designed guidance software built to track moving targets after their connection to a human operator is disrupted, in one of the largest disclosed Western drone orders for Kyiv. The approximately €90 million programme combines Shrike first-person-view drones made by Ukrainian manufacturer SkyFall with Auterion Strike kits from US-headquartered defence technology company Auterion, according to Reuters. Deliveries have begun and

News Defence Exports

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 14, 2026 — 3 min read

UK Places First Contracts in European Race for Cheap Drone Defences

Britain has awarded £3.16 million ($4.2 million) to three companies developing low-cost weapons to intercept drones, becoming the first of five European partners to place national contracts under a joint air-defence initiative. The relatively modest awards address one of the most pressing problems exposed by recent conflicts: inexpensive drones can be produced and launched faster than conventional air-defence missiles can be built or replenished. Russia launched an average of 208 Shahed-type d

News Europe

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 13, 2026 — 2 min read

Australia Accelerates Missile Shield After Live-Fire Success at Woomera

Australia and the United States shot down a cruise missile target in a first-of-type live-fire test of a prototype ground-based air defence system, as Canberra accelerates work on a missile shield to guard against growing threats in the Indo-Pacific. The Australian Defence Force fired a Standard Missile-2 at an airborne target last month at the Woomera range in South Australia, during Exercise Taipan Strike 26, the government said on Thursday. The prototype paired an Australian radar with a Uni

News Technology

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 9, 2026 — 2 min read

Belgium's €3.1 Billion Skyranger Deal Puts Rheinmetall at the Centre of Europe's Air Defence

Belgium confirmed a €3.1 billion air-defence package at the NATO summit in Ankara on 8 July, built around 20 Rheinmetall Skyranger short-range systems. The deal also takes in 10 NASAMS launchers and 14 Ground Master 200 radars, bought through existing Dutch framework contracts to speed delivery. Defence minister Theo Francken set out the plan as the country's first serious rebuild of a mobile air-defence layer it has largely gone without since the early 2010s. The systems are meant to cover cri

Europe Land Systems

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 9, 2026 — 3 min read

Lockheed Tests Guam Missile-Defence Battle Manager at Valiant Shield

Lockheed Martin tested a new command-and-control system for Guam’s missile defence during Valiant Shield 2026, demonstrating software designed to link sensors, interceptors and battle-management systems across one of the most important US military hubs in the Western Pacific. The company said the demonstration connected live and simulated data from several air and missile-defence systems taking part in the exercise, including Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications, known as C2BM

News Technology

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 8, 2026 — 2 min read

US Navy Tests UUVs and Harpoon Missile Strikes at RIMPAC 2026

The US Navy is using RIMPAC 2026 to test how unmanned underwater drones can support submarine targeting and long-range anti-ship fires, a pairing it says is central to holding its edge under the Pacific as China’s own submarine fleet keeps growing. Commander, Submarine Force, US Pacific Fleet, known as COMSUBPAC, said this year’s exercise highlights two capabilities: unmanned undersea vehicles that simulate autonomous operations in contested waters and provide targeting data, and submarines sch

News United States

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 8, 2026 — 2 min read

Rolls-Royce Breaks Ground on Derby Reactor Site to Power AUKUS Submarines

Rolls-Royce Submarines broke ground on Friday on a new manufacturing facility in Derby that will more than double the size of its reactor site, expanding capacity to build nuclear propulsion units for the Royal Navy and Australia's future attack submarines under the AUKUS pact. The work at the Raynesway site will add more than 100,000 square metres of manufacturing and office space and create 1,170 skilled jobs, the company said. It forms part of a plan first announced in June 2023 to double th

News Europe

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 3, 2026 — 3 min read

Royal Navy Launches Combat-Proven Nyan Strike Drone From Warship for First Time

The Royal Navy and British Army have launched a domestically built strike drone from a warship at sea for the first time, a step towards a fleet that pairs crewed vessels with cheap uncrewed weapons. The trial saw the Nyan One-Way Effector, a small attack drone made by BAE Systems subsidiary Callen-Lenz, launched from the experimentation ship XV Patrick Blackett off the south coast of England last month. It formed part of Exercise Neptune Reach under Project Vantage, a Royal Navy programme set

Analysis Europe

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 3, 2026 — 3 min read