Man charged over drone factory sabotage

What's happened

Joshua Cammidge, 31, has been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service and preparing an act of sabotage after prosecutors say he gave Google Maps screenshots and addresses for four drone-manufacturing sites in Swindon and volunteered to carry out sabotage while communicating with a suspected GRU Volunteer Corps representative.

What's behind the headline?

What the charges reveal

• The Crown Prosecution Service has charged Joshua Cammidge under the National Security Act for allegedly providing precise locations for four drone factories and volunteering sabotage. That detail shifts the case from generic espionage to operational targeting of UK manufacturing.

What likely drove the investigation

• Police are treating the communications as direction from a group the UK has recently designated: the GRU Volunteer Corps. That designation has given prosecutors stronger tools and created a clearer legal path to charge UK nationals for providing assistance.

Immediate consequences

• This will increase scrutiny of small-scale defence suppliers and local reconnaissance activity. Firms that make drones will face higher security demands and likely more police liaison.

Wider implications

• The prosecution will reinforce the UK’s posture that proxy groups linked to Russian intelligence will be treated as criminal threats. That will harden enforcement and make online contact with such groups far riskier for UK residents.

What to watch next

• The Old Bailey hearing on Sept. 25 will determine whether prosecutors can present evidence of direction from a GRU Volunteer Corps representative and concrete steps toward sabotage. If prosecutors secure convictions, sentencing under the National Security Act will set a precedent for similar cases.

Short forecast

• Courts will move quickly. The case will prompt tighter vetting by defence suppliers and more visible counterterrorism policing around sensitive industrial sites.

How we got here

The UK has designated the GRU Volunteer Corps a national security threat and banned support under the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026. Counter Terrorism Policing London arrested Cammidge in Swindon on Sept. 4 and he has been remanded to appear at the Old Bailey on Sept. 25.

Our analysis

Reuters (Michael Holden) reports that prosecutors said Cammidge "was accused of providing details of four drone factories near his home in Swindon, west England, and volunteering to commit an act of sabotage," and that he had researched a Wi‑Fi jamming device and undertaken reconnaissance. The BBC Business coverage adds timing and process: it says the charges allege Cammidge provided "Google Maps screenshots which showed addresses of four drone manufacturing sites in Swindon" between March and early September and that he was arrested on Sept. 4 and remanded to appear at the Old Bailey on Sept. 25. AP News quotes prosecutor Warren Stanier saying the communications concerned "locations within the U.K. of factories that manufactured drones and the sabotage of those factories," and notes the GRU Volunteer Corps was designated a national security threat in July. Al Jazeera cites Frank Ferguson of the CPS saying prosecutors have found sufficient evidence to bring the case and records the Met’s operational details, while the Guardian and the Independent supply local arrest and remand details and reiterate the link to the GRU Volunteer Corps. Taken together, the outlets converge on the same facts: Cammidge was arrested by counterterrorism officers in Swindon, prosecutors say he passed location data for four drone sites and offered to sabotage them, and the alleged recipient is linked to the GRU Volunteer Corps, newly proscribed under UK law. Reporting differences are minor: Reuters and BBC provide more courtroom quotation from prosecutor Warren Stanier; AP and Al Jazeera emphasize the national security designation and government statements; the Guardian stresses legal safeguards and the CPS reminder that proceedings are active.

Go deeper

• What specific evidence will prosecutors present at the Old Bailey on Sept. 25?
• How are drone manufacturers in Swindon changing security procedures after the arrest?
• What legal penalties will apply if Cammidge is convicted under the National Security Act?

More on these topics

• Russia - Country

  Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Covering an area of 17,125,200 square kilometres, it is the largest country in the world by area, spanning more than one-eighth of the Earth's in

• Swindon - Town in England

  Swindon is a large town in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, South West England, between Bristol, 35 miles to the west, and Reading, the same distance to the east; the town is 71 miles west of London. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 182,441.

• United Kingdom - Country in Europe

  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland.

• London - Capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom

  London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of 9.1 million people in 2024. Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 15.1 million. London stands on the River...

• Wiltshire Police - Police force in England

  Wiltshire Police, formerly known as Wiltshire Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Wiltshire in South West England. The force serves 722,000 people over an area of 1,346 square miles (3,490 km2). In terms of officer numbers, it is the second smallest force in the United Kingdom (after the City of London Police).

• Ukraine - Country in Europe

  Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast.

• Metropolitan Police Service - Police service

  The Metropolitan Police Service, formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police and informally as the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard, is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the Metropolitan Police District, which

• Salisbury - City in England

  Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 40,302, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately 20 miles from Southampton and 30 miles from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wiltshi

• Moscow - Capital of Russia

  Moscow is the capital and largest city of Russia. The megacity stands on the Moskva River in the central portion of Western Russia, with a population estimated at 12.6 million residents within the city limits, while over 17 million residents in the urban

• Crown Prosecution Service - Public agency

  The Crown Prosecution Service is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

• Old Bailey - Courts in London, England

  The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales is a court in London and one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court. The street, outside, traces the City of London's ancient fortified wall, which runs from Ludgate Hill to the junction of Newgate

• England - Country of the United Kingdom

  England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by

• Sergei Skripal - Military officer

  Sergei Viktorovich Skripal is a former Russian military intelligence officer who acted as a double agent for the UK's intelligence services during the 1990s and early 2000s.

• Dan Jarvis - Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom

  Daniel Owen Woolgar Jarvis MBE is a British Labour Party politician and former British Army officer. From 1997 to 2011, he served in the Parachute Regiment, before being elected as the Member of Parliament for Barnsley Central in a by-election in 2011.

• Google Maps - Website

  Google Maps is a web mapping service developed by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets, real-time traffic conditions, and route planning for traveling by foot, car, bicycle and