Matthew Savill

Director of Military Sciences at the Royal United Services Institute @RUSI_org; recovering former civil servant; all views expressed here are my own.

[Financial Times @FT]

Alex Younger, former head of MI6, has died at age 62. In 2020, he spoke to the FT about global threats — and why we still need ‘garage shed’ spycraft.

Read the piece from our archive: https://t.co/cO7sNVxndH

[Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 @DefenceHQ]

It is with great sadness that we can confirm the deaths of Lieutenant Commander Chris Gayson and Lieutenant Lily-Mae Fisher of 846 Naval Air Squadron, and Petty Officer Owen Green of 845 Naval Air Squadron, who died in Devon during routine training activity on 3 June.

[Matthew Savill @MTSavill]

Extremely messy. The SDR as a public document included little detail on the costs, but there must have been an internal set of spending profiles against which to plan.

(And I'm begging people to stop using 'uplift' as a) a noun and b) a synonym for 'increase'!). 🚨

[Tom Newton Dunn @tnewtondunn]

Revealed - the "naive" broken promise, and the furious Cabinet row between Starmer, Healey and Reeves that delayed defence's key spending blueprint by months
https://t.co/RvTIabzg1p

[Gordon Corera @gordoncorera]

Sir Alex Younger was a 'spy's spy' who relished the operational side of the business and the former Chief of MI6 will be missed by many. I've written my own tribute in the Classified Insider newsletter this week - https://t.co/wypixLYBgC

[Dr. Dan Lomas @Sandbagger_01]

"He will be remembered by the many Ministers, colleagues, friends, and family for his utmost dedication to British public life and protecting our nation".

https://t.co/PqFMD1Oz9C

[Matthew Savill @MTSavill]

@helen_macnamara Genuinely managed to balance authority with approachability.

[helen macnamara @helen_macnamara]

Alex was the best of men. We owe him such a debt of gratitude. This excellent obituary isn’t really the half of it. Plus he was also kind and fun, really loved his family and made excellent bread. Really sad.

https://t.co/5BN6Q8Z2oI

[Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 @DefenceHQ]

It is with deep sadness that we can confirm three members of the Royal Navy have died during a helicopter training exercise on Wednesday 3 June near Sourton, Devon.

[Matthew Savill @MTSavill]

Tremendously sad news. A great professional, and a good man too.

[BBC News (UK) @BBCNews]

Former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger dies aged 62 https://t.co/UkW45MgHNx

[Matthew Savill @MTSavill]

@josephdevanny Not just Starmer/No.10. When I was in the NSS, it and the Economic and Domestic Secretariat were not well-integrated (for some understandable reasons). It’s sometimes tough for national security civil servants to grasp these issues, and it is where SpAds really add value.

[Jim Townsend @jteurope]

Excellent work by Jack Watling!

[Matthew Savill @MTSavill]

A useful summary of the situation in Ukraine by @Jack_Watling, including analysis of what is changing, why, and the very significant risks that remain. Indeed, if prospects for a ceasefire improve, there are significant new challenges that would emerge.

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

In Ukraine, “what has long seemed so implausible has become more likely,” writes @Jack_Watling. “Kyiv and its partners could convince Moscow that a cease-fire is its best option.”
https://t.co/k5hzwxrTtu

[Matthew Savill @MTSavill]

@BO3673 This was not hard to guess…

[Shashank Joshi @shashj]

RUSI has done too much interesting work to catalogue. But I'd pick out @Jack_Watling & colleagues on Ukraine's experimentation with new approaches to combined-arms manoeuvre (https://t.co/5HeY7uJuM6), on electronic warfare (https://t.co/IGSNinM2an) and on the trade-offs in drone design (https://t.co/HAvOTayvcs)

[Matthew Savill @MTSavill]

@Sandbagger_01 It's both very good and very entertaining.

[Matthew Savill @MTSavill]

A great summary of not just the evolution of technology in war, but also attitudes to the use of force more broadly. Plenty to debate or even contest, but important reading. Shashank will be much missed on defence issues. (I’m sure he learned it all at @RUSI_org!)

[Shashank Joshi @shashj]

I wrote our cover story this week, a valedictory essay on the changes in war & warfare over my eight years as defence editor. It’s a reflection on the growth & limits of battlefield transparency, the lessons from different wars & the utility of force today https://t.co/5mBbcRGC3A

[Shashank Joshi @shashj]

This is infuriating. The DIP delay absolutely IS holding up defence spending in key areas. Small companies are disproportionately affected.

[Matthew Savill @MTSavill]

‘One Way Effector’ klaxon. 🚨

[Gabriele Molinelli @Gabriel64869839]

The Royal Artillery has now started showing off the Callen-Lenz NYAN one-way effector publicly. I've been sitting on a couple of pics for a bit, but we now have a short official video. Officially it's the 2d operational OWE after Modini DART 250. https://t.co/lG7KyHdpIc

[Larisa Brown @larisamlbrown]

The defence investment plan will not be published next week, it is understood, which means there is a very narrow window for it to get out. Healey and others want it out before allied defence ministers meet at Nato on 18 June (same day as the Makerfield by-election)

[Dr. Dan Lomas @Sandbagger_01]

If only there was an article setting all this out 😉

Have a read of the piece @MTSavill and myself did for @RUSI_org ⏬️

https://t.co/MMwMiqE6cG