On 8 September 2025, the UK office of the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) and BASED Europe hosted the inaugural London Security Dinner titled ‘Bridging Innovation: Defence-Civilian Synergies for a Resilient European Future.’ The event convened individuals from the technology sectors in both the UK and Germany, defence industry representatives, thinkers and academics working in the area of defence innovation. The twenty-six attendees discussed German-UK collaboration in defence technology and innovation across four topic areas:
- Opportunities in defence technology;
- Challenges to innovation and integration;
- Policy and sector response; and
- Next steps and concrete actions.
This report is primarily based on discussions captured at the event. The views presented in this report are not based on prior research conducted by RAND Europe and therefore do not constitute RAND’s institutional position or research findings, and are not a statement of policy for the UK Ministry of Defence, His Majesty’s Government or the Federal Government of Germany.
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