Wednesday 14th October, 2026: Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton KCB ADC FREng, Chief of the Defence Staff, and the UK’s National Armaments Director, Rupert Pearce, have jointly launched DSEI UK – Delivering the Integrated Force.

CDS and Mr Pearce have issued a clear challenge to the defence sector, across UK and allied nations, as plans for DSEI UK 2027 were unveiled.

CDS, the most senior UK military officer, explained that the UK and its allies were in a race with potential hostile states to gain the battlespace advantage as tensions rise across the globe.

DSEI UK is the flagship, biennial defence event that is expecting 65,000 visitors and sees up to 1,700 companies showcase developed and in-service capability to the global defence market of military buyers. Speaking about plans for the event, CDS warned of the need for nations to prepare at speed.

He said: “Fundamentally this is a race, we have to be faster and better than our adversaries. That is going to happen if we can bring together industry, science and technology and the war fighters as well as those responsible for acquisitions and that is what DSEI does”.

CDS was joined by Rupert Pearce, who is responsible for defence acquisition and industrial capability, to launch the official theme for DSEI UK – Delivering the Integrated Force. Pearce added that the UK and its allies have just over four years to prepare for conflict.

He added: “This is the time for us to focus on accelerated delivery. We have until the end of 2030, at best, to deter and be ready to fight. DSEI UK is a perfect time for the different stakeholders to come together and to figure out how we can do this together at pace”.

Setting out his approach to building up the UK’s defences by creating “an innovation engine which horizon scans for new technologies and capabilities, advances them and matures them”, Pearce explained:

“We need to build our core capabilities in a way which allows them to be infused with future innovation. That is the perfect discussion to have at DSEI UK with all the stakeholders together: military, industry, procurement agencies, innovators and the finance community… If we get that right at DSEI UK we will position the UK Armed Forces in a vanguard of being the most innovative armed forces in the world.”

The event’s organiser, Managing Director James Samuel, said: “DSEI UK plays an important part in bolstering the UK’s strategic deterrence, uniting the entire defence sector and providing a platform for British industry on the global stage. The themes at the core of DSEI UK, which include digital transformation, emerging tech, international alliances and supply chain resilience, reflect the priorities of the UK Government and will play an important role in the deepening national conversation about defence and security.”