Defence News – Late June 2026

A new Regional Defence and Security Cluster (RDSC), designed to align local defence capabilities with UK demand, has been launched in the West Midlands.

The region-wide partnership brings together industry, academia, government and the Armed Forces to boost collaboration across the sector and support organisations of all sizes to innovate and grow.

The West Midlands is one of UK’s most diverse and strategically important regions for defence and security, employing 23,500 people and with an annual Ministry of Defence (MOD) industry spend of £1.7bn. Its strengths in defence and security are underpinned by the region’s flagship Investment Zone, diverse end-to-end manufacturing supply chain, deep pool of STEM talent and academic excellence, with ten world-class universities.  Sourced from Engineering Capacity