Same, Same but Different? Launching UK Defence Innovation

21 Jul 2025 11:58 AM

UK Defence Innovation wants to accelerate UK defence technology and capabilities and provide a strategic approach to defence innovation. But to distinguish itself from previous initiatives, UKDI needs resources and a cultural shift to deliver innovation at scale and speed.

To ‘harness tech for the UK’s Armed Forces’, the UK Ministry of Defence launched UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) on 1 July. This is not the first time a body under the MoD is tasked with enhancing innovation and securing cutting-edge technology for UK defence.

Why the perceived need for yet another new body? Because innovating in defence remains hard: Hierarchical military organisations require a top-down approach. And while in the commercial world, small companies can disrupt well-established business models, defence remains a conservative sector. Disruption by innovators championing radical and untried approaches clash with a system in which most civil servants and military personnel are not incentivised to take risk – an inherent factor of innovation.

Furthermore, the difficulties of sharing sensitive information makes it difficult for companies to enter the defence sector. Once in, long project timelines that can take around five to six years from bid to delivery are longer than typical investment and financing cycles of start-ups and SMEs – they may be out of business by the time the first payments come through. For investors, this makes start-ups with a defence application a difficult value proposition.

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