Next issue: June 2018

Sweden is creating a digital defence system to protect against cyberattacks – specifically from Russia – and working on plans to mobilise troops more quickly. At the same time Norway has unveiled its defence procurement plans to 2025, which will focus on building a highly skilled defence industry. We map defence spending and priorities in the two countries against a backdrop of geopolitical developments.

France’s forces minister has announced a plan to increase spending on artificial intelligence as part of an innovation drive to develop future weapon systems. Around €100m will be spent to fund studies, and €10m a year go towards testing and integrating existing AI technology. We take a closer look at France’s defence-related AI plans and ask what other countries are doing.  

Also in the next issue, we map out SIPRI's latest research on global arms spending to analyse the major trends, review recent developments in light attack aircraft, and find out why Dstl is going back to basics in its approach to computer hardware for harsh operational environments.