Director of Military Sciences at the Royal United Services Institute @RUSI_org; recovering former civil servant; all views expressed here are my own.
Joined February 2024
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Matthew Savill retweeted
Great seeing Maj Gen Fayes from @DefenceHQ Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic
Force talked about the UK conducting ‘hunt force’ missions. This was a core point that we heard from NATO member states and Allies in our research on cyber deterrence. @RUSI_org rusi.org/explore-our-researc…
UK sends cyber ‘hunt forces’ abroad to stop hostile hackers thetimes.com/uk/defence/arti…
Matthew Savill retweeted
This is excellent.
The 'Organisation' component of capability is often undervalued and under-developed, but it can be a real catalyst in driving capability change.
The Royal Navy has stood up its first ever autonomous squadron that will operate uncrewed boats on front-line operations – as investment into the hybrid navy continues.
The 1st Autonomous Squadron is currently operating Kraken K3 Scout and Rattler USVs.
royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2026/n…
'Effector strike drone'? Are the people putting this stuff out now just slapping words together?
The goal of a Hybrid Navy is another step closer thanks to two milestones on @HMSQNLZ.
A Nyan effector strike drone has been launched from a UK aircraft carrier for the first time.
The ship also landed and launched a Tekever AR5 multi-role drone.
🔗 royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2026/n…
ALT A Nyan drone awaits launch on HMS Queen Elizabeth's flight deck
ALT The Tekever AR5 drone prepares to touch down on HMS Queen Elizabeth's deck
ALT The Nyan drone leaves the launch ramp
Matthew Savill retweeted
EXCL: The UK is lagging behind other European countries in public understanding of the threat posed by Russia, the head of the British military has warned in an interview with @FT.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, chief of the defence staff, said that Britain needed to “catch up with our European allies”, including those geographically closer to Russia who felt the proximity of its aggression and the war in Ukraine more acutely.
He promised further action to counter Moscow’s submarines in the North Atlantic, ahead of a new ‘northern navies’ maritime pact between the UK and nine Northern European allies (Netherlands, Nordics, Baltics and Iceland), expected to be signed on Tuesday.
ft.com/content/9d49deb8-33f6…
Matthew Savill retweeted
🚨 NEW RECORD - 210 days
A whisker shy of SEVEN MONTHS under the sea
HMS Vengence returns today, Remembrance Sunday.
She set sail on April 12.
I'm very pleased we are running a follow-up to last year's popular conference sustaining a protracted conflict (because war has a life of its own!). There are still some tickets remaining, so take a look at the excellent speakers we have lined up and grab yours today.
Long-war preparedness is what makes deterrence credible. Hamish Mundell explains how it links to force sustainability and readiness: bit.ly/4yV5Ypf
That is also the focus of our Long War Conference 2026, which looks at how Britain can prepare for protracted conflict: bit.ly/4z3vAQX
Good article by my @RUSI_org colleague, with a point (made in part by the article) worth emphasising: even in the cited cases of air power success (Libya and Kosovo) there was a 'ground force' present playing a role or taking advantage of the air superiority.
Although the “global aura of U.S. airpower” is declining, the United States should continue to prioritize air superiority, argues @Justin_Br0nk. “Airpower remains the most potent piece of the United States’ conventional forces.”
foreignaffairs.com/united-st…
In the case of Libya, the ground force taking advantage of the air superiority being provided was the Libyan resistance. Without this, the effect would have been different (probably still the blunting of the advance of government forces towards places like Benghazi).
This doesn't rebut @Justin_Br0nk's argument - far from it. Air power remains key to Western thinking about war. But it needs to be working in support of clearly defined and *reasonable* political goals, and usually combined with other forms of military power.
Matthew Savill retweeted
With the midterms over, attention now turns to whether the US will restart major strikes on Iran, and if so, for how long. The forces in theater could open a campaign on Feb's scale, but the munition stocks likely couldn't sustain it, and US forces would face greater risk. A 🧵.
Matthew Savill retweeted
If you're a War on the Rocks or RUSI member, check out this upcoming webinar on Nov. 12! warontherocks.com/the-atlant…
Matthew Savill retweeted
If anyone wants to read something different to the budget … I wrote about my thyroid, my baby and me.
As I said, I was worried this was an over share but my hope is it helps other women who have an auto immune condition. It’s not easy.
Some of the reader’s comments fear this article is about me putting women off having babies. It’s not. I love babies, I hope more women have more babies and it hasn’t put me off pregnancy either. However I wanted to contribute to an honest conversation about the mental world that pregnancy is and what it does to the body.
Also a big shout out to @BBCr4today
programme for keeping me sane come morning, after some very scary nights.
Anyway, obviously the real star of this piece is my son.
telegraph.co.uk/health-fitne…
This doesn't appear to be a 'new' problem for defence, so much as an accounting measure. But it does mean the *existing* problem on resource spending (seen in the need to cut exercises) is -presumably - still there.
DIP profile v today's Red Book profile.
Part of the reason we could go ‘ten times faster’ was because we were prepared to pay over the odds, and in some cases had no support plan or need for consistency across the force. We should take lessons for cutting bureaucracy, but not all of TF Kindred’s approach carries over.
The Army has done a lot through RAPSTONE, taking lessons from KINDRED, but even here it isn’t responsible for *all* Army acquisition.
questions-statements.parliam…
Matthew Savill retweeted
‘The time to act on this is now. We must act quickly and we must be bold.’
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth (@ChiefofAirStaff) delivered the 2026 Lord Trenchard Memorial Lecture at RUSI, calling for the RAF to harness new technologies to rapidly develop its combat capabilities.
RUSI members can watch the full recording on our website: bit.ly/4yOCZ6L
Good to see this year's @RUSI_org Trenchard Lecture with @HarvSmyth, chaired by @Justin_Br0nk, creating debate and some headlines.
theguardian.com/uk-news/2026…
