Good afternoon from the team at Resilience Media
Where there is uncertainty there is opportunity, especially as Europe looks to protect itself amid the chaotic Trump administration. This week, two guest posts look at how this affects Europe’s defence industry. Excepts of both can be found below.
Latvian drone founder, Agris Kipur’s essay looks at how Europe needs to increase the speed of procurement. We saw this in realtime with NATO’s adoption of Palantir’s Maven Smart System for NATO, where the requirement to acquisition cycle only took 6 months, which is a record.
The interview with Mircea Dan Geoanǎ, President of Aspen Institute Romania and former Deputy Secretary General of NATO, which took place at our event during Munich Security Conference, now looks very prescient. You can read and watch the interview here. Equally, the conversation I had with Arthur Herman, author of Freedom’s Forge is more relevant than ever. You can watch that here. We have also written about the Daimler Truck and ARX Robotics partnership — exciting news as these hardware-software outcomes were the crux of our Future of Defence Tech Manufacturing and Innovation event held in Munich.
Will you be at the UK-Ukraine Defence Tech Forum in London on Friday, 25 April? If so, let me know as I’ll be there too. Friends of Resilience Media can buy a ticket with our 25% discount code, which is in the Industry Events section below.
-Leslie, co-founder, Resilience Media
Trump’s recent stance towards NATO highlights the pressing need for Europe to stand on its own feet when it comes to defence. Public sentiment across the continent is shifting in favour of greater military investment, yet political action remains slow.
Another wake-up call for Europe – that’s how many are framing the latest statements from U.S. President Donald Trump on the war in Ukraine and NATO. But how many wake-up calls does Europe need? From Crimea in 2014 to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, from energy crises to supply chain vulnerabilities, Europe has been repeatedly warned that its defence strategy is inadequate.
It’s time to move beyond alarms and act. Read the full piece from Origin Robotics CEO, Agris Kipurs.
Marc C Lange, fro 2.Ventures, writes about the EU – UK defence relationship here.
‘The informal meeting of European finance ministers in Warsaw has already delivered the outcome I was hoping for most: we’re swallowing our pride and opening the door to our British friends again—with strong reciprocity on the other side of the Channel.
‘This shift is hugely significant. Not just because we need the UK’s defence industrial base to secure Europe, and not just because the UK has been ahead of the curve in adopting Ukraine’s defence-tech playbook—pushing hard for more startups in defence. It’s also because recent developments like a £400M frontline Ukraine testing fund for new materiel, a 10% defence budget allocation (roughly €7Bn) toward new technologies, and a flurry of informal VC and PE activity over the past few weeks all point to a clear momentum the EU should not ignore—and hopefully won’t.’
UK – Ukraine Defence Tech Forum
25 April 2025, RUSI, London. Ukrainian and UK defence tech companies are developing their technologies and their effectiveness is being proven on the frontline. What is required now is to channel investment to enable rapid scaling-up and the advancement of these technologies in order to speed up their deployment. The Forum has been convened to bring together all key stakeholders – government, technology companies and VCs – for a timely discussion on how to achieve this.
Resilience Media readers receive a 25% discount on the registration fee. When registering on the Forum webpage simply enter the code Resilience25.
London Defence Tech Hackathon May 2025
10 May 2025, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Our friends at Future Forces, Isembard and EDTH are hosting the 2nd London Defence Tech Hackathon to connect the UK’s brightest young engineering minds with cutting-edge startups, venture capitalists, and U.K. defence and national security leadership and users. Apply here.
Latitude59
May 21-23, 2025, Tallinn, Estonia. Latitude59 is the flagship startup and tech event from Estonia, running since 2012. In recent years, it has grown into a global platform, connecting ecosystems, communities and innovators who change the world and make it a better place. Resilience Media is proud to be a media partner for this year’s event, and we’re pleased to see more focus on defence and security at the conference. Register to attend here.
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Startups
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