This report presents the takeaways of an event titled ‘Bridging Innovation: Defence-Civilian Synergies for a Resilient European Future’, which was hosted on 8 September 2025 by the UK office of the Hanns Seidel Foundation and BASED Europe. Attendees considered German-UK collaboration in defence technology and innovation across topic areas including opportunities, challenges, policy and sector response and next steps.

Bridging innovation: Defence-civilian synergies for a resilient European future

Rebecca Lucas, Jacob Parakilas, Artur Honich

ResearchPublished Jan 30, 2026

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.

Key Findings

  • The event in the focus of this report explored UK-German bilateral cooperation in the areas of defence industry and defence innovation. Event participants underscored that Russia’s war against Ukraine and broader geostrategic shifts have created both urgency and opportunity to revitalise the Defence Technological and Industrial Bases of both nations.
  • The discussions highlighted several areas of opportunity, including recommendations to create a more integrated defence ecosystem, expand joint test and evaluation activities and broaden educational exchange programmes to facilitate the exchange of technical expertise and strengthen links between British and German strategic discourses. Participants also emphasised the importance of building more resilient, diversified supply chains through collaborative efforts.
  • However, the event also brought attention to continuing barriers and challenges. Key concerns included residual public scepticism toward increasing defence spending, restrictive ESG regulations, and enduring issues linked to the length and complexity of procurement processes.
  • Overall, expert participants recommended a variety of practical measures, such as creating more opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises to collaborate with military end users in order to support rapid prototyping, introducing bilateral mobility programmes, and, more broadly, investing in the long-term development of a UK-German defence ecosystem that connects stakeholders from government, industry and academia.

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Lucas, Rebecca, Jacob Parakilas, and Artur Honich, Bridging innovation: Defence-civilian synergies for a resilient European future. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4328-1.html.
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This research was sponsored by the Hanns Seidel Foundation and conducted by the Defence, Security and Justice Program within RAND Europe.

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