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 UK's security is "in peril", Lord George Robertson, the former Nato secretary general and UK defence secretary, has said. He wrote the government's Strategic Defence Review.
Categories:
Keywords:
Friday Reading Edition 289 (17th April 2026)
The UK is dependent on its undersea cables and pipelines for its data and energy. There are around 60 undersea cables which come ashore at several points along the UK coastline, particularly around East Anglia and South West England. More than 90% of the UK's day-to-day internet traffic travels via these undersea cables.
Categories:
Keywords:
Managing the new economic risks in the defence sector [free to download upon sharing contact details Text
Friday Reading Edition 289 (17th April 2026)
This report explores the new economic risks for the defence sector and their implications for 2026. A period of relative calm has given way to a new age of geopolitical instability, marked by a rise in violent conflicts involving governments. And this return to intergovernmental warfare has ignited a significant increase in defence spending worldwide.
Categories:
Keywords:
Friday Reading Edition 289 (17th April 2026)
The latest version – the UK’s National Risk Register outlines the most serious risks facing the United Kingdom, aimed at risk and resilience practitioners, including businesses and voluntary and community sector organisations.
Categories:
Keywords:
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.
Categories:
Keywords:
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.
Categories:
Keywords:
Friday Reading Edition 288 (10th April 2026)
In May 2025, the UK Space Agency published the UK Planetary Protection Technical Framework, providing clear guidance to ensure UK space activities safeguard the environment on Earth and in space from potential harmful contamination.
Categories:
Keywords:
Friday Reading Edition 288 (10th April 2026)
Space weather originates from solar activity and mostly causes no tangible disruption. Severe space weather can, however, disrupt a range of technologies. For example, an event could cause the widespread disruption of air travel for multiple weeks, localised power outages in the UK, and disruption to satellite services such as satellite navigation and timing services used by many sectors.
Categories:
Keywords:
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.
Categories:
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.
Categories: