Trends in Defence Tech

In a normal year the WiTT board would have a healthy debate about topics to address in our upcoming panel discussions: a new angle on AI? Data centres? Fibre vs. satellite? Is mobile still a separate area? But this is not a normal year: “UK drives off Russian submarines lurking near subsea cables”; “Russian spy spacecraft have intercepted Europe’s key satellites, officials believe”; “Big Tech's new reality: Data centers are a war target”. It was clear we should address the topic of defence tech.

Wars in Ukraine and Iran have led Western governments to increase military budgets, especially in areas related to technology. In fact in June 2025 Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced the biggest sustained increase in defence spending in the UK since the Cold War — £5 billion — with a focus on innovation in drone and laser weapon technology as well as AI for precision targeting and other applications.

WiTT’s panel will take a closer look at some of the technologies being funded and developed to improve preparedness. We’ll also discuss the threats to our tech infrastructure, and the larger legal and ethical issues that arise from the use of some of these technologies: can autonomous systems be trusted to target combatants only? Does the UK need to own more of the cloud and data centre infrastructure we’ve come to rely on? Do we need to modify procurement strategies?

WiTT board director Yasmeen Majid will chair our panel. Our speakers will include:

Silvia Grant, Deputy Director and Head of Technology & Futures, Chief Technology Office at National Armaments Department, UK Ministry of Defence;

Mimi Keshani, Co founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Hadean; and

Ali Smith, Associate, Bird & Bird.

Other speakers will be announced closer to the event date. You can see our speakers' bios here.

We'll begin at 6:00pm with networking. The panel will run from 6:45 to 7:45, including Q&A. Drinks and canapes will be served after the panel finishes.

WiTT would like to thank Bird & Bird for hosting.

Please email info@wittgroup.org if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you on September 9th!

The WiTT Board
Annette, Audrey, Helen, Michelle, and Yasmeen