Since March 2020, Airmic has been issuing Friday Reading, a curated series of readings and knowledge resources sent by email to Airmic members. The objective of Airmic Friday Reading was initially to keep members informed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, Airmic Friday Reading has evolved in scope to include content on a wide range of subjects with each email edition following a theme. This page is a searchable archive of all the readings and knowledge resources that have been shared.
Friday Reading Edition 289 (17th April 2026)
The flagship assessment of the UK’s defence policy – the world has changed. The threats the UK now faces are more serious and less predictable than at any time since the Cold War, including war in Europe, growing Russian aggression, new nuclear risks, and daily cyber-attacks at home.
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Friday Reading Edition 289 (17th April 2026)
As the UK commits to spending 5% of GDP on national security, and with NATO partners scaling up their own defence budgets, a generational opportunity is taking shape: to rethink how defence investment can drive not just military capability, but also economic growth, productivity, and innovation.
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Friday Reading Edition 288 (10th April 2026)
The modern space race is on. Now, more than 80 countries across the globe have a presence in space. New opportunities in space are being discovered and advancements in space resource utilisation, telecommunications, space tourism, along with lower costs of space exploration, have resulted in exponential growth in investment in the private commercial sector over the past 5 years.
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Friday Reading Edition 287 (2nd April 2026)
The world in 2026 is characterised by geopolitical tensions, armed conflicts and wars, fierce competition in future-oriented industries, and a cyber threat landscape that requires decisive risk management.
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Friday Reading Edition 287 (2nd April 2026)
As a result of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, there is likely no current significant change in the direct cyber threat from Iran to the UK, however due to the fast-evolving nature of the conflict, this assessment may be subject to change.
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Friday Reading Edition 284 (13th March 2026)
Chubb will be the lead partner on the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation's $20 billion Maritime Reinsurance Plan aimed at resuming commercial shipping in the Gulf.
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Friday Reading Edition 284 (13th March 2026)
Naval escorts remain a political possibility rather than operational plan, but even if they did emerge a best-case scenario would only allow tanker transits to get back up to less than 10% of normal traffic, with capacity further constrained by mines, narrow waters and limited US-EU naval assets.
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Friday Reading Edition 284 (13th March 2026)
Even if the disruption to oil and gas from the Iran war subsides, the Trump administration’s energy policy will likely lead to a long-term increase in energy prices.
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Friday Reading Edition 284 (13th March 2026)
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints, carrying around a quarter of global seaborne oil trade and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas and fertilisers.
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Friday Reading Edition 284 (13th March 2026)
The estimated 20% of disrupted supply is roughly twice as big as the previous record set. The war has also effectively wiped out the spare capacity, because Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been cut off from global oil markets.
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