Next issue preview

The cyber domain is no longer an afterthought for the armed forces and has become as firmly established as land, sea and air. In our cyber-themed issue, we look at the data behind defence.

In May the UK MOD published its Digital Strategy for Defence which sets out how the defence digital function will enable access to data by delivering a secure, singular, modern digital backbone. In our explainer, we examine just what the digital backbone is and what it means for defence solutions.

Much western cyberwarfare policy very clearly implies that Russia is one of the adversaries our systems must defend against, but what is Russia’s policy? We look at how cyberwarfare fits into the Russian concept of operations and what effects Russia envisages it achieving.

The Map the Gap competition, run by Dstl on behalf of DASA, aims to find new ways to help UK Armed Forces cross a body of water – the ‘wet gap’ – safely and covertly while increasing the tempo of operations. We talk to Dstl about the challenges competitors face and the solutions Dstl expects to see.

And as defence moves towards a sustainable model, we look at how new power systems support environmental goals and take a look at an all-electric quad bike.