Jacksonville UK Trade Mission: Defence, Innovation, and Dual-Use Technologies Summit

America Is Rearming: How UK Suppliers Get Inside the Drone, Missile-Defence and Technology Spend. The Pentagon's FY2027 budget request is $1.5 trillion, a 42% rise and the largest jump in US military spending since 1945. Much of it goes on missile defence, new technology, and de-risking a supply chain that now favours trusted allied suppliers. Jacksonville sits in the middle of it: $6bn a year of military activity at NAS Jacksonville and Mayport, the largest shiplift in the United States, and a growing aerospace and shipbuilding base. Travelling with the delegation are Mayor Donna Deegan and the leadership of ASEC (the Aviation Systems Engineering Company). Request a place for a working session on entering US defence supply chains and dual-use technology, with a special focus on UAVs. Dedicated Networking Opportunity This session is followed by scheduled networking with the delegation and guests at The Clarence, 53 Whitehall, London SW1A 2HP. Sponsors: VyStar Credit UnionUK partner: Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs Panel Harold G Lyons II, Deputy Chief of Staff to Rep. Mike Rogers, Alabama (Chair, House Armed Services Committee), US Congress Nick Howland, City Council President, City of Jacksonville Bryan Barthelme, COO, Aviation Systems Engineering Company (ASEC) Moderator: Dominic Nicholls, Defence and Security Editor, The Telegraph About Jacksonville's 2026 Trade Mission Jacksonville, Florida brings its annual trade and investment mission to London from Monday 12 to Sunday 18 October 2026. It is led by Donna Deegan, Mayor of Jacksonville, joined by Shad Khan, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham Football Club, and more than 50 business and civic leaders from the region. Jacksonville is ranked the #3 large US city for economic growth. Florida has no personal income tax, leads the US in net business relocations, and saw some 698,000 new businesses formed in 2025, more than any other state; Jacksonville is where much of it lands. The city has been called the Wall Street of the South: FIS, Fidelity National Financial and GuideWell are headquartered there, and global banks including Bank of America, Citi and Deutsche Bank run major operations in the city. The UK connection is already working. The UK and Florida signed their trade and economic cooperation agreement in Jacksonville in November 2023, and Jacksonville's City Council holds a Memorandum of Friendship with the City of London. JAX Hub, the city's fintech innovation programme, is accepting applications from UK companies for its 2026 cohort. The mission exists to help UK companies succeed in US markets, with summits across finance and fintech, defence, aerospace and space technology, medical services and medtech, construction and real estate, retail and consumer brands, legal services and lawtech, AI and cyber security. Each pairs Jacksonville decision-makers with their UK counterparts. JAXUSA Partnership, the city's economic development agency, travels with the delegation and advises UK companies on entering the market.