• UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) invests over £140 million in its first year into new drone systems
• Rapid innovation investment supports British SMEs, Micro-SMEs and universities
• Advanced drone and counter-drone systems for UK Armed Forces and to counter Russian drone threat

Britain’s Armed Forces will be better equipped and small British defence businesses will grow rapidly as the Government boosts investment into innovative drone systems this year. 

UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) – launched earlier this year – will inject over £142 million rapid investment into drones and anti-drone weapons this year, its first year in operation.

This includes around £30 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.

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 £400 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.

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.  

John Healey MP, Secretary of State for Defence, said: 

After years of hollowing out and underfunding, I am determined to put Britain’s Armed Forces, and British businesses, at the leading edge of defence innovation.

The Strategic Defence Review was clear that we must learn the lessons of the war in Ukraine, which is why we’re surging investment into drone and counter drone systems. Russia’s continued bombardment of Ukrainian civilians and their grey-zone drone incursions across Europe show why this drone drive is so urgent.

In a new era of threat, this rapid investment will make the UK secure at home and strong abroad, while making defence an engine for growth, ensuring the UK is the best place in the world to start and grow a defence business.

Specific examples of this year’s investment includes:

• Investment of over £25 million delivering a new Royal Navy uncrewed AI submarine ‘Excalibur’, which will play a key role defending against Putin’s fleet as part of the transformative Atlantic Bastion programme to establish a new hybrid Navy. Excalibur was recently unveiled in Portsmouth alongside other capabilities forming part of the Atlantic Bastion programme.  
• £20 million to support development of additional laser weapons to complement the UK’s ‘DragonFire’ system. This follows the signing of a £300m 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.  
• £7.5 million for a new uncrewed helicopter, part of the Royal Navy’s move towards future ‘hybrid air wing’ aircraft carriers, with flight trials already underway.  The project will deliver one of the world’s first full-sized autonomous helicopters.
• £12 million to support development of an air-launched collaborative Uncrewed Air Vehicle (UAV), increasing the UK’s effectiveness against air-to-air threats.
• £5 million seedcorn investment into prototypes for Land Autonomous Collaborative Platforms – such as autonomous drones to support British Army Apache helicopters.

The rapid investment into emerging British uncrewed systems businesses comes alongside further commitments to industry through the Defence Industrial Strategy that the UK aims to be the best place in the world to launch and grow a defence business. 

For example, Ukraine’s largest drone manufacturer, Ukrspecsystems, recently announced £200 million investment to create a new drone factory and training site in East Anglia, creating up to 500 jobs and apprenticeships.