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Benjamin Tallis

@bctallis.bsky.social
27K followers 738 following 1.3K posts

Head of Policy & Analysis at Helsing - AI to Protect Our Democracies | Chair @DSI_Strategy |🇺🇦🇪🇺🇩🇪🇨🇿🇬🇧 | #NeoIdealism | Post=personal, Repost ≠ endorse. Views mine

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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It’s true that drones are not everything. But drones are not going anywhere. If we can’t integrate them at scale with our existing capabilities, then the form of warfare we want to fight will die alongside our soldiers. A brilliant speaker Brig. Stu Nasse with a powerful message at #IISS_PDS26
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
‘What we do for Ukraine we do in weeks and months. What we do at home we still do in years and decades.’ 🇸🇪 Defence Minister Pål Jonson nails the need to scale the speed of procurement and transformation in European defence. #IISS_PDS26
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
“It worries me that we will be seen as the generation that screwed it up” - It was inspiring to hear UK CGS Gen. Sir Roly Walker (Head of the British Army) talk so candidly this week about his absolute determination to accelerate defence transformation to ensure deterrence.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Uncrewed air power is today tech, not tomorrow tech - & we have to get after it in practice, not theory if we’re not going to get left behind. It was an honour to be in the RAF Club in London for productive & forthright discussions on air power, with military leaders, experts & Helsing colleagues
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Honoured to present Helsing’s Mastering Military Change project at NATO’s Allied Foresight Conference in Berlin - & delighted how much it resonated with the audience. Kudos to NATO ACT on a great event with a really expert crowd, top keynotes & insightful panels.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Great way to be welcomed back to Berlin! Especially after a day talking to some of the brightest, bravest & best communicators on European defence.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Excellent discussions & a great crowd at the Howgate Firebreak event at the beautiful Honourable Artillery Company in the heart of the City. I’m happy Helsing helped this happen & brought @amosfox.bsky.social together with Gen Nick Carter for a super panel. @howgatepublishing.bsky.social
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
The message landed in Copenhagen. Just do it. It was great to talk with so many people who clearly understand that Europe’s massive defence investment has to deliver massive upgrades in combat power - fast. With @AndersFoghR #CDS2026 2:59:30 to 3:10:00 www.youtube.com/live/XVhxoAW...
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Great to be in Copenhagen for an excellent & highly productive workshop yesterday with defence officials, experts and military leaders - and now to participate in the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, which Helsing is proud to support. #CDS2026
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
I love the realistic yet ambitious approach, focusing on the practical measures we CAN take to become a stronger sovereign player, partner & ally step-by-step. Clear diagnosis, guiding policy and prioritised, coherent and costed actions - this is the essence of strategy and essential reading.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Developing resilient, sovereign capability is not just necessary, it is possible as this excellent in-depth paper from @nicolange.bsky.social @schularick.bsky.social Jeanette Zu Fürstenberg, Tom Enders, Rene Obermann & others shows www.kielinstitut.de/fileadmin/Da...
kielinstitut.de
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
This is how we take our future in our hands. Europeans must act to end our critical defence dependencies & activate our strategic, geopolitical agency amid growing power competition - & we CAN. www.kielinstitut.de/fileadmin/Da...
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
I love the realistic yet ambitious approach, focusing on the practical measures we CAN take to become a stronger sovereign player, partner & ally step-by-step. Clear diagnosis, guiding policy and prioritised, coherent and costed actions - this is the essence of strategy and essential reading.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Developing resilient, sovereign capability is not just necessary, it is possible as this excellent in-depth paper from @nicolange.bsky.social @schularick.bsky.social Jeanette Zu Fürstenberg, Tom Enders, Rene Obermann & others shows www.kielinstitut.de/fileadmin/Da...
kielinstitut.de
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
This is how we take our future in our hands. Europeans must act to end our critical defence dependencies & activate our strategic, geopolitical agency amid growing power competition - & we CAN. www.kielinstitut.de/fileadmin/Da...
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
How AI is really being used in war Great to hear my v.smart colleague @JamesLawson on the excellent @theeconomistnews.bsky.social Science Podcast ‘Babbage’ with @shashj.bsky.social & Alok Jha showing how Helsing is pioneering military AI to protect our democracies economist.com/podcasts/202...
economist.com
How AI is really being used in war
Our podcast on science and technology. Is artificial intelligence living up to its promise on the battlefield?
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Up bright & early heading to London for the #AuroraForum Excited to represent Helsing & engage with decision-makers from across Nordic-Baltic region - especially on learning the right lessons from #Ukraine 🇺🇦 to address our vulnerability to Russian threat by embracing new defence tech
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Procurement must be Timely as well as Transparent ✅ We have to move at the speed of relevance, the speed of military and geopolitical need. ❌Legacy models will be too slow and too expensive. Key message from Stephen Fuhr PC MP CD 🇨🇦 to a packed hall at the impressive CDAI #OttawaConference
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Learning on the Front Line. Hitting high-values targets at depth. Helsing in #Ukraine defence-blog.com/russian-forc...
defence-blog.com
Russian forces report strikes by German HX-2 drones
Ukrainian forces are increasingly employing German-made HX-2 one-way strike drones along multiple frontline sectors, according to reporting by Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi. Militarnyi reported ...
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Great to be at #CafeKyiv today & proud that Helsing supported this important event. It’s been inspiring to hear so many insightful points, catch up with friends united in the fight for our free future, & to see such strong political & public support for the defining cause of our times.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
What a difference a year makes.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
The moment you arrive, you know this year’s Munich Security Conference will be different. #MSC2026 As @nicolange.bsky.social said so powerfully at the @atlantikbruecke.bsky.social dinner - Europe needs to grow its backbone. Helsing provides the tools to do just that. @munsecconf.bsky.social
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Bottom line Europe needs *both* a Berlin-centred shield & a distributed national deterrent asap. Failure to build credible deterrence risks being forced to fight on Russia’s terms - or being coerced & risking our democracies & our freedom. @glandsbergis.bsky.social table.media/en/security/...
table.media
Europe needs its own deterrent
The former Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, is calling for Europe to have a deterrent of its own. In his view, Berlin has a central role to play here.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
🛡 Speed matters on the Eastern Flank Lithuania can’t wait years for heavy platforms. Rapidly fielded mass strike drones & 'deep & cheap' precision weapons would immediately complicate RU planning [if integrated into operational concept & with political will to use them!] 🧵
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
🇺🇦 Ukraine shows what’s possible Ukraine has used precision strikes to disrupt Russian forces deep behind the front & hit critical Russian assets. At greater scale, and strategically conducted, such capabilities would be a powerful deterrent. 🧵
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
🇱🇹 Track two: distributed national deterrence European states (especially on the flank) need quickly usable, national-level strike capabilities that don’t depend on lengthy NATO deliberation, which can buy time & allow allies to join the fight. 🧵
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
So we need a new twin-track approach to deterrence 🇩🇪 Track one: centralised European deterrence Germany has the economic and industrial weight to anchor European defence, but rearmament timelines are too slow. Rapid procurement & fielding of massed capability is essential. 🧵
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
🕰 Slower, weaker responses The swift backlash after Salisbury in 2018 contrasts sharply with today’s drawn-out investigations and committees—something the Kremlin clearly notices. 🧵
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
So, @glandsbergis.bsky.social argues that there’s still too much comforting (but dangerous) legacy thinking. 📜Europe’s outdated assumption- For decades, challenging Europe also meant challenging the US. That assumption no longer fully holds, particularly on NATO’s eastern flank. 🧵
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
🇷🇺Russia is testing our limits Moscow senses the shift, & the weakening of our deterrence, probing NATO airspace, infrastructure, and borders through persistent hybrid attacks without facing serious consequences. 🧵
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Key elements of @glandsbergis.bsky.social’s argument 🇺🇸 US shift & a weakening deterrent in the emerging new world order. Washington no longer treats European defence as a core interest [to put it mildly]. Commitments feel conditional, & deterrence—fundamentally psychological—is eroding.🧵
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
ICYMI! Great piece from @glandsbergis.bsky.social from before xmas on why Europe needs a new, two-track approach to deterrence - & fast! Europe’s security situation is changing fast— pretending otherwise is becoming dangerous & GL’s piece is even more pertinent now 🧵 table.media/en/security/...
table.media
Europe needs its own deterrent
The former Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, is calling for Europe to have a deterrent of its own. In his view, Berlin has a central role to play here.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Great interview @shashj.bsky.social - & a super way to get a clearer understanding of Helsing’s vision, how we’re supplying Ukraine with advanced strike drones & building the capabilities that Europe needs for effective deterrence. Europe has the tools to take our future in our hands.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Absolutely!
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
New Tech ≠ Military Transformation - or advantage. A powerful reminder from fmr UK CDS Nick Carter in his new @WarOnTheRocks article Learning from #Ukraine & military history, real change needs integration, vision & realistic experimentation at scale warontherocks.com/2026/01/a-ne...
warontherocks.com
A New Way of Warfare Requires More Than New Tech
When I look back at my 45 years of military service, one of the highlights of my military education was a battlefield tour I participated in during 2001
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
@phillipspobrien.bsky.social @carlomasala1.bsky.social @warinthefuture.bsky.social @zackcooper.bsky.social
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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Very pleased to make this list. Thanks for including me @bctallis.bsky.social
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
My top 20 reads of 2025 (incl a few evergreen re-reads) These books materially shaped how I think and work — and several translated directly into real professional impact. I’ve got a strong list for 2026, but I’m keen to sharpen it:  - what should I be reading next?
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Military need & geopolitical reality not bureaucratic timelines or fiscal shortsightedness must drive Europe’s rearmament. We need to align pol, Econ & mil timelines to transform our forces, fast. Delayed deterrence is failed deterrence - & failed deterrence costs so much more.
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Nordique Bonqeur Fella 🇸🇪🇦🇽🇫🇮🇩🇰🇧🇻🇮🇸 @nordicfella.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
👇
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Honoured to be at @rusi.bsky.social for CDS lecture in London. A broad ‘whole of society’ vision & strong words on lethality, but as the questions showed, UK need to dispel a perceived ‘say-do gap’. Building on Atlantic Bastion model to get new capability at speed & scale would do just that.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Next leg of the Winterreise. After a brief festive pit stop in beautiful #Prague, I’m now back on the road, heading to #London for meetings with experts & a special event. We have so much to protect - & much to do to protect it, but wherever I’ve been so far we’re stepping up.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Baby, it’s cold outside! Wonderful, short but intense wintry trip to #Ottawa. Great to check in with experts, policy shapers & industry players & feel the energy for defence transformation & building military capability using AI. Geopolitical winter is coming but we need to be #preparednotscared
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Political will meets cutting edge expertise & industrial dynamism. ⏩🇩🇪🇨🇦🦾 It was an honour to co-lead the session on rising to new security challenges at the excellent German-Canadian AI Symposium in Montreal in the company of political, industry & AI leaders. Now we all need to deliver.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Munich was looking wonderfully festive, & it was a wrench to leave after such a flying visit - though we crammed a lot of work in with a high-intensity engagement with military leaders. But, it’s already ‘giddy up Jingle Horse’, and on to Montreal via, a lovely dawn, for the AI symposium.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
It was an honour to engage with the Bundeswehr Führungsakademie Transatlantic Seminar at Helsing Munich on a crucial topic: - We need to master current & future shifts or face being mastered by our enemies.
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Sven-Erik Volberg @volberg.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Europe must act now. We should use Russia’s frozen assets to provide a reparations loan that strengthens Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. This is fair, feasible and urgent. Leaders of 🇫🇮🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹🇸🇪🇵🇱🇮🇪 to 🇪🇺 in the name of 🇺🇦
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Our future is in our hands. I’m proud to be able to show what Helsing can do to help us all ensure that there’s plenty to cheer in festive seasons to come.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Let’s go! Last trip of the year - and it’s a bumper tour of key spots for securing the future of our free societies. 🇩🇪Munich 🇨🇦Montreal 🇨🇦Ottawa 🇨🇿Prague 🇬🇧London 🇧🇪Brussels🇪🇺 Driving forward the defence of our democracies together with military, political & industry leaders.
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
⏩ Autonomous mass & AI enhanced sensing are crucial to anti-submarine warfare & critical infrastructure protection. Europe needs to field these capabilities at scale. 💡Exactly why Helsing developed SG-1 long-endurance UUV gliders with AI processing on the edge & our Lura software helsing.ai/lura
helsing.ai
SG-1 + Lura – Helsing
AI and autonomous swarms to detect subsurface threats and protect critical infrastructure.
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