The last few weeks have seen the UK stepping up its direct military engagement in the Middle East to defend UK and other assets in the region from Iran’s attacks. But the UK is also making moves to increase its indirect engagement — and business development — too.
Today, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said that UK defence secretary John Healey met with a group of ambassadors and defence attachés from seven Gulf states, 13 UK-based defence companies, and other UK representatives to talk procurement — specifically to make it easier for Gulf states to buy more air defence, counter-drone, and command and control systems at “a rapid pace.”
The companies in the room ranged from primes to early-stage startups, underscoring what defence realistically looks like at the moment. The list included ADS, MARSS, MSI, MBDA, Frankenburg, Leonardo UK, Thales, QinetiQ, OSL Ltd, BAE Systems, Ocean Infinity, Cambridge Aerospace and Uforce.
There are hundreds of defence businesses operating in the UK today (and even more when you look globally). The UK government said this particular list of 13 was pulled together considering a few factors: the strength of each company’s offering; their location (primarily based in the UK, or with a major HQ in the country for those like Frankenburg or Uforce that are more closely associated with other regions like Estonia/Latvia or Ukraine); and — perhaps most critically — how quickly they could produce and export supplies to the Gulf.
The Gulf states included Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Iraq and Jordan. Hamish Falconer — the Foreign Office minister who oversees the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan — also took part.
Building more bridges between defence tech companies and would-be buyers makes a lot of sense right now.
Companies in defence are looking for more business connections into the Middle East at this key moment; and Gulf states under attack are seeking more modern equipment of their own to protect themselves from Shahed drones, missiles and other Iranian weapons.
But from what we understand, it was the UK government itself, looking to bolster its own response in the region, that brought the meeting together — a signal of how the UK is taking a more proactive in promoting its defence tech business, particularly on behalf of smaller companies and startups based in the country.
“Iran’s indiscriminate attacks are a threat to Britain, our allies and our partners in the region. That’s why our dedicated Armed Forces are taking defensive action in the Middle East,” Healey said in a statement. “A nation’s Armed Forces are only as strong as the industry that supports them. I’m proud of how our military and industry is stepping up together – just as we are for Ukraine – to offer rapid support to our Gulf partners. This is the best of our British industry, innovators and military in action.”
The meeting was convened by two people, the MoD said: Luke Pollard, the defence minister for readiness and industry; and new National Armaments Director Rupert Pearce. Pearce took on the NAD role in October 2025, having previously worked in private industry and venture capital. Many thought Pearce could bring more startup nous to the role, and this seems to prove some of that out.
A lot is still up in the air.
It’s too early to say what deals may come out of the meeting — if any — nor if there will be more companies or countries added to the procurement list; nor if those companies really can deliver at “a rapid pace” since some are quite early-stage startups. It’s also unclear what role the UK or others might play in financing those deals, and in easing the process of exports. Both of these issues will be on the table, though: the NAD Group has set up a new task force to address them, the MoD said, along with how to make sure the defence supply chain does not fall over on increased demand.
Indeed, the idea is for this work to augment, not replace, what the UK itself is bringing to the arena.
The UK yesterday said it would be signing a partnership with Ukraine to develop “low cost, high tech” hardware such as drones. And today, the MOD confirmed that the UK would be buying more Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) from Thales UK, both for British forces and “support partners” in the region that it will also train if needed. The UK has already been using LMMs in this latest conflict.
