The Week in Defence: The High North and the Hybrid Navy – 7–13 Nov 2026

This edition covers Saturday 7 November to Friday 13 November 2026. Oslo put the High North and the Royal Navy’s hybrid fleet centre stage, Russia and Ukraine sat down together in Abu Dhabi for the first time since February, and Iran- and Russia-linked cases kept hybrid threats to the UK in the headlines through Remembrance week.

Oslo, the High North and the hybrid navy

The International Sea Power Conference and the Atlantic Future Forum gave the week its strongest theme. The MoD announced a £90m framework with Hampshire-based Ocean Infinity Solutions for Atlantic Net, a network of sensors and uncrewed systems across the North Atlantic to detect Russian submarines and protect undersea infrastructure, as part of the wider Atlantic Bastion programme. On board HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy and its JEF allies signed a Northern Navies Initiative committing them to operate, train and plan together and to make equipment interoperable by design, with the aim of making the JEF NATO’s maritime vanguard in the North Atlantic, High North and Baltic. The UK will also buy three Offshore Support Vessels as motherships for uncrewed mine-hunting systems by joining Norway’s naval programme, with the first due in 2031, as part of the Type 26 export agreement.

The First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, described the Royal Navy’s most extensive recapitalisation since the Second World War and said the Hybrid Navy is now here, announcing a statement of intent with Northrop Grumman to prepare its TALON demonstrator for trials under Project VANQUISH. The Navy had already commissioned its first autonomous squadron in Portsmouth, with around 180 personnel operating Kraken and Rattler uncrewed boats, replacing Project Beehive. Industry moved with it: Kongsberg pitched its Arctic Hunter for the Type 92 sloop requirement, and Arondite agreed a deal to deploy its Cobalt AI-enabled software across UK Commando Force.

Why it matters: the Defence Secretary told the Atlantic Future Forum that High North security is homeland security, that Russian activity in the UK’s maritime area of responsibility is up 41% this year, and that UK troop numbers in Norway have doubled to 2,000. The week tied that threat picture to money, partners and uncrewed platforms. The test now is delivery, with the motherships not due until 2031 and much of the hybrid fleet still at demonstrator or competition stage.

Sources: GOV.UK (Atlantic Net), GOV.UK (Northern Navies), GOV.UK (motherships), GOV.UK (First Sea Lord speech), Joint Forces News (autonomous squadron), UK Defence Journal (Type 92), GOV.UK (Arondite), GOV.UK (Defence Secretary speech)

Abu Dhabi: talking while the strikes go on

Russia went into the talks hitting hard. Ahead of the Abu Dhabi round, a barrage of 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles plunged five Ukrainian regions into darkness, and by midweek rolling power cuts were longer and earlier than last winter, with some Kyiv families facing outages of up to 20 hours. France’s foreign minister said France, the UK and Germany would be in the room. The talks, the first substantive negotiations between Russia and Ukraine since February, agreed what was described as the largest prisoner exchange of the war, expected to involve more than 1,000 prisoners from each side, but made little progress towards a wider peace.

Then Putin told US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff that Russia would target any foreign troops deployed to Ukraine, refused to soften his territorial demands and ruled out foreign peacekeepers. Witkoff confirmed European representatives will join the next round, and the Prime Minister said national security adviser Jonathan Powell would join the talks in Berlin. In Parliament, the MoD said the £10bn support package includes a further £500m in military support this winter, including for air defence, on top of £3.75bn already being provided this year.

Why it matters: Putin’s line goes straight at European thinking on a post-war presence in Ukraine, so the UK’s place at the table matters as much as the outcome of any one round. Ukraine’s drone campaign is also widening, with a Ukrainian drone hitting a Russian corvette in the Gulf of Finland, in a part of the Baltic open to civilian traffic.

Sources: The Guardian (strikes), BBC (talks open), The Guardian (prisoner exchange), BBC (power supply), The Guardian (Putin), Written answer 39781 (military aid), BBC (Gulf of Finland)

Hybrid threats close to home

The US Department of Justice charged three Iran-backed operatives over plots in the US and Europe, alleging they orchestrated a terrorist plot at a UK air force base linked to the September incident near RAF Fairford, and said seven of the 18 attacks claimed in Europe this spring under the name HAYI took place in the UK. Iran denies involvement. The US reportedly moved tankers from RAF Mildenhall after a threat from Iran, and at Woolwich Crown Court two men were found guilty of helping Iran’s intelligence services by carrying out surveillance on Iran International journalists. Separately, a senior US Army soldier was arrested near Gloucester under the National Security Act on suspicion of spying for Russia.

The disruptive end of the spectrum was busy too. At least 1,000 schools in Scotland and 300 in Northern Ireland received hoax bomb threat emails, the head of the NCSC said the UK is in the “foothills” of a new hacking landscape, and a global Microsoft outage left some GP practices taking urgent queries by phone, though Microsoft ruled out a cyber attack. Neso issued a rare electricity margin notice as wind output fell across Europe, while stressing there was no warning of power cuts.

Why it matters: government is leaning on whole-of-society preparedness. Sales of bottled water rose 67% after the Be Ready campaign launched, the Security Minister cited polling that 84% expect government information on resilience, Exercise ALBISTON SHADOW 2027 will be the largest UK home defence exercise in decades, and a Commons Library insight set out the Total Defence debate.

Sources: BBC (Iran plots), The Guardian (Mildenhall), The Guardian (Iran surveillance trial), BBC (spying arrest), BBC (school hoaxes), The Guardian (NCSC), BBC (Microsoft outage), The Guardian (Neso), BBC (Be Ready sales), UK Defence Journal (Jarvis), UK Defence Journal (ALBISTON SHADOW), Commons Library (Total Defence)

Trends to watch

• People and culture. The Single Living Accommodation review made 19 recommendations including a new Decent SLA Standard, the Prince of Wales cited an MoD survey finding 67% of service women faced unwanted sexualised behaviour each year, and the Afghanistan inquiry released photos it was told may be evidence of possible war crimes.
• Industry and money. BAE Systems said first-in-class Type 26 work weighed on Maritime margins, the National Wealth Fund is investing £113m in Ukrainian-founded drone maker UFORCE, and HM Treasury said the Innovative Defence Financing Taskforce will be established imminently.
• Land kit in the pipeline. DE&S opened market engagement on a £1.67bn Boxer support contract, £930m remains to be paid under the Ajax contract, and Team LionStrike handed three vehicles to the Army for Light Mobility Vehicle trials.

Sources: HCWS458 (SLA review), BBC (Prince of Wales), BBC (Afghanistan inquiry), UK Defence Journal (BAE), GOV.UK (UFORCE), Written answer 39124 (financing taskforce), Written answer 40028 (Ajax), Calibre Defence (LMV)

Contract announcements

Contract, tender and planning notices reported in the Think Defence daily updates this week. Dates are those of the daily update; values are as stated in the notice. No contract items were reported on 8 or 9 November.

• 7 Nov · Award · Carbon60 · £34.04m ex. VAT · Technical maritime engineering support for Royal Navy maritime C5I systems, to November 2029 with options to 2031 · Find a Tender 105936-2026
• 7 Nov · Award (DE&S) · BH Technologies · £6.56m ex. VAT · Supply and support of Remote Video Viewing Aids and industrial borescope consumables for non-destructive testing · Find a Tender 105721-2026
• 7 Nov · Award (framework) · Accuracy International · £4m ex. VAT · Sniper rifle spares, around 355 NATO Stock Numbers, via Babcock Land Defence as agent · Find a Tender 105542-2026
• 7 Nov · Tender (Navy Command) · Not yet awarded · est. £7.4m ex. VAT · Technical support for operational encyclopaedic reference data and digital product libraries used by C4ISR systems · Find a Tender 105570-2026
• 7 Nov · Award · Akhter Computers · £550,000 · Ambient Noise Prediction System, November 2026 to October 2028 · Contracts Finder
• 7 Nov · Award · VE3 Global · £444,550 ex. VAT · Project Vesta: a defence-wide modelling and simulation knowledge base · Find a Tender 105729-2026
• 10 Nov · Award (DE&S) · Arribatec UK · £8.63m ex. VAT · Integrated Management System for initially around 15,000 civil service and industry users · Find a Tender 106179-2026
• 10 Nov · Award · Zellis UK · £984,000 ex. VAT · HR pay and records platform for locally employed civilians · Find a Tender 106296-2026
• 10 Nov · Award (MOD Corsham) · AtkinsRéalis · £914,290 · Exploitable by Design: enterprise architecture policies, standards and guidance under JSP 453 · Contracts Finder
• 10 Nov · Award · Icon Research · Value not stated · Training RFA engineers on the “Dr Diesel” diagnostic system, two years with options for three more · Find a Tender 106461-2026
• 10 Nov · Planning notice · Not yet awarded · Value not stated · Project Carver: engineering and technical training · Find a Tender 106415-2026
• 11 Nov · Updated tender · Not yet awarded · c.£5m ex. VAT · Bulk Modular Support Units · Find a Tender 106909-2026
• 11 Nov · Award · Optimus OD · £234,971 ex. VAT · Mindset-based development programme for the Defence Medical Academy, to September 2029 · Find a Tender 106912-2026
• 11 Nov · Award (AWE) · Supplier withheld · £84,550 ex. VAT · Treatment and disposal of eight tritiated targets · Find a Tender 106705-2026
• 11 Nov · Planning notices (DIO, via Amey Defence Services) · Not yet awarded · Up to £348,000 each · Fencing replacement at Glasgow, Helensburgh Rhu and Catterick · Contracts Finder
• 12 Nov · Planning notice (DE&S) · Not yet awarded · est. £36.5m · Around 500 handheld metal and low metal detection systems with support, for up to 11 years · Find a Tender 107041-2026
• 12 Nov · Award · BOXXE · £13.96m · NEXUS hardware managed service, October 2026 to December 2030 · Contracts Finder
• 12 Nov · Award · SANS Training UK · £6m · Cyber security training and certification for the MoD cyber workforce, October 2026 to October 2030 · Contracts Finder
• 12 Nov · Request for information (Dstl) · Not yet awarded · Value not stated · Resilient positioning, navigation and timing where GNSS may be degraded, denied, disrupted or manipulated · Find a Tender 107142-2026
• 12 Nov · Intended award · EntServ UK · Value not stated · In-service support of the Health Physics Laboratory and Dosimetry Data Management System, from April 2027 · Find a Tender 106967-2026
• 12 Nov · Planning notice (framework) · Babcock Land Defence, as agent to the MoD · £2.4m · Repair and ad hoc tasks on generators; a similar £1.2m framework was notified for lighting and power distribution systems · Find a Tender 107187-2026
• 12 Nov · Award · FUJIFILM · £218,100 ex. VAT · Deployable medical diagnosis equipment with software, installation, support and warranty, to October 2029 · Find a Tender 106995-2026
• 13 Nov · Updated award (DE&S) · HII Unmanned Systems · £303m ex. VAT · Eight Mine Hunting Capability Block 2 mission systems, November 2026 to May 2031 with options to 2033 · Find a Tender 107786-2026
• 13 Nov · Pipeline notice (DE&S) · Not yet awarded · c.£1.67bn ex. VAT · Boxer Integrated Operating Services: future in-service support for the UK Boxer fleet from April 2029 · Find a Tender 107384-2026
• 13 Nov · Planning notice (DIO) · Not yet awarded · est. £500m ex. VAT · Fountain Lake Jetty regeneration: demolition, new jetty construction and dredging, works indicated 2028 to 2037 · Find a Tender 107455-2026
• 13 Nov · Tender (DE&S) · Not yet awarded · est. £174m ex. VAT · Air cargo loading capability: airfield support equipment to move, load and unload cargo and passengers · Find a Tender 107421-2026
• 13 Nov · Tender (Operational Energy Authority) · Not yet awarded · est. £4.2m ex. VAT · Environmental Pollution Response Service for fuel, oil and lubricant spills at MoD locations · Find a Tender 107742-2026
• 13 Nov · Award · Babcock Land Defence · c.£1.09m · In-service support for MoD civilian armoured vehicles · Find a Tender 107655-2026
• 13 Nov · Planning notice (DIO) · Not yet awarded · est. £28.8m ex. VAT · Renewable power purchase agreement for RAF Wittering, target start February 2028 · Find a Tender 107669-2026

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