UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) – launched earlier this year – will inject over UKP142 million (USD 190) million rapid investment into drones and anti-drone weapons this year, its first year in operation.
This includes around UKP30 million investment this year into counter-drone technology to protect the UK homeland and allies, in the face of increasing Russian-linked drone incursions across Europe, said a UK Ministry of Defence press release.
UKDI was launched by Defence Secretary John Healey MP in July this year to be the focal point for innovation within the Ministry of Defence, backed by a ringfenced annual budget of at least UKO400 million. It takes a new approach, using different ways of contracting, to enable UK companies to scale up innovative prototypes rapidly.
“While many of the companies involved remain anonymous, the drones investment this year includes 20 British SMEs, 11 British ‘Micro-SMEs’, and 2 British Academic institutions,” said the MoD. “The rapid investment delivers on the Strategic Defence Review which set out how the UK must take the lessons from the war in Ukraine – such as rapidly advancing drones and unmanned systems – to put the UK’s Armed Forces at the leading edge of innovation in NATO.”
Around UKP 20 million to support development of additional laser weapons to complement the UK’s ‘DragonFire’ system, according to defence secretary John Healey. “This follows the signing of a UKP300m contract to install the first DragonFire anti-drone systems onto Type 45 destroyers from 2027, five years earlier than previously planned, creating and sustaining almost 600 jobs across the country.”
For more information
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rapid-140-million-boost-for-drone-and-counter-drone-tech-from-newly-formed-uk-defence-innovation
(Image: Leonardo – one of the companies developing the DragonFire C-UAS system)
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