Weekly Defense Update, 14-22 February 2026

Our defense update in the second week of February 2026 was defined by a massive shift toward strategic autonomy and the rapid proliferation of attritable autonomous systems. Highlighting this era of record-breaking fiscal commitments, India has announced a historic $94 billion defense budget, while Germany has pledged €35 billion to modernize its space capabilities by 2030. Major powers are increasingly moving away from "off-the-shelf" purchases toward industrial localization, with nations such as Canada and India mandating domestic production and technology transfers to build sovereign defense ecosystems. Simultaneously, the "Ukraine Effect" continues to drive a high-speed arms race in uncrewed systems, pushing the industry toward low-cost, AI-guided drones and advanced counter-UAS technologies.

The Weekly DefenseTech Brief is published by Defense-Update