UKDI to launch fewer, bigger industry engagements

UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), part of the country’s defence ministry, will launch fewer, bigger industry engagements going forward, as part of its efforts to streamline the development of new technologies.  

Industry engagements include opportunities such as competitions, open calls, requests for information (RFIs), and innovation challenges. 

These opportunities – larger in both scope and funding – are part of what UKDI calls its ‘big plays’, involving industry in the delivery of “several” key military capability requirements, James Gavin, Deputy Head of UKDI told DSEI Gateway. 

Gavin emphasised that the big plays embody a new, more "outcome focused", approach by UKDI as the organisation looks to provide industry with wider ranging "problem statements" to answer, rather than niche detailed specifications. 

By consolidating the number of industry engagements run by UKDI and aligning these with planned procurements, Gavin says the organisation will create a “golden thread” of opportunity to help industry scale following participation. 

Additionally, he said that companies looking to partner with UKDI as part of these future programmes should expect problem statements at short notice. SMEs “need to be able to move as quickly if they want to be part of a lot of the future competitions coming up”, Gavin explained. 

What capabilities could be part of the 'big plays'? 

While the exact big play capability requirements are yet to be announced, Gavin was able to reveal some of "the types of capabilities" UKDI may look for. 

One of the capabilities being sought is “layered” counter-UAS to help defend against cheap mass one-way effectors. A potential solution could be "cheap industrial lasers", Gavin suggested.  

This was recently demonstrated with the MoD’s Project 'Panoptes', a themed competition launched by UKDI on 26 September, which sought an integrated counter-uncrewed aerial system force-protection capability.

Additionally, he noted that heavy-lift drones – such as those capable of carrying payloads of 200-300kg – could conduct the submarine hunting currently done by helicopters, but much more affordably.  

This is a role that the 3-tonne autonomous rotary platform 'Proteus’, which is funded by the Anti-Submarine Warfare Programme, could potentially fill, Gavin explained.  

"We’ve got some really, really good sovereign UK heavy lift drone suppliers," Gavin said, noting that such a capability "could really revolutionise how we chase submarines around the Atlantic." 

Gavin added that UKDI is also looking at whether new technologies to support forward land forces could be developed and trialled in under two years, including those for sensing, decision-making, protection, and deception.