While increased investment in the UK’s Defence and Security capabilities is welcome, funding alone is not a silver bullet for long-term success. In an era of volatility and rapid technological change, the ability to translate innovation into operational capability is as critical as the technology itself. Developing and ideating new solutions solves only half of the challenge. The other challenge is the ability to turn these ideas into real, practical solutions that can be practically applied and adopted in the Defence and security industry. At Digital Catapult we continue to work with Defence primes to accelerate the practical application of deep tech in industry and this is why we recognise that the UK must invest in the underpinning infrastructure that enables deep tech innovation to be developed, tested and deployed at scale.
Current challenges in the UK Defence and security sector
The increasingly digital nature of the Defence and security landscape is also creating new vulnerabilities for the UK and its Armed Forces. This includes weaknesses around cloud and data security as well as operational technologies that pose a threat to the UK’s Defence supply chain. In fact, evidence obtained by the UK Parliament identified the influence of hostile actors in the UK’s Defence and Security supply chain. These attacks aren’t just concentrated on the Defence and security industry as the UK Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey last year found that 43 % of UK businesses (around 612,000 organisations) reported experiencing a cyber breach or attack in the last 12 months, with risk-checking of suppliers still inconsistent and only a minority formally assess immediate vendor risks.
As supply chains across all industries are increasingly vulnerable to cyber-threats, those in the Defence and security sector are arguably most at risk, as hostile actors recognise their role in strengthening and maintaining capabilities. Broader industry data suggests that supply chain attacks are among the fastest-growing cyber threats, with one analysis reporting a 20% year-on-year rise in supply chain cyberattacks, as adversaries increasingly leverage supplier networks and legacy systems as points of compromise. To mitigate broader disruption and to strengthen the UK’s defence and security capabilities, attention must be paid to the supply chain.
The importance of the Defence and security supply chain
The Defence and Security supply chain is responsible for the operational readiness of the UK’s Armed Forces, as well as the design, development, manufacture and maintenance of the equipment, platforms, digital systems and services that underpin the UK’s defence and security capabilities. This supply chain spans Defence and Security primes, SMEs and deep tech innovators, forming the backbone of the UK’s defence and security capability, highlighting the importance of this space in mobilising defence and security success. With the UK Government also pledging to spend 2.5% of the country’s GDP on Defence by 2027, the infrastructure necessary to deliver and deploy new solutions is essential, and this is where infrastructure that can validate supply chain solutions is important, which includes testbeds. Testbeds offer real-world testing environments where supply chain solutions can be validated, providing an effective means to broader practical deployment and commercialisation of deep tech innovation.
At Digital Catapult, we enable deep tech startups to scale, cooperating with pioneering small businesses that have developed solutions to drive UK industrial supply chain resilience. Whether it’s deploying AI-led tools for demand sensing or deploying distributed ledger technologies to enhance security and the transfer of information, deep tech innovation holds the key to the UK’s Defence and Security success. The challenge however is ensuring that deep tech solutions can be developed safely and sustainably; this is where establishing the infrastructure to trial deep tech solutions is critical. This can include access to experimentation facilities, secure collaboration environments, access to emerging technologies and simulated conditions for validation, all of which we provide at Digital Catapult.
How programmes are prioritising infrastructure and innovation
To practically apply deep tech innovation to equip the UK’s Defence sector to be future ready, Digital Catapult alongside partners across the Catapult Network and in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), is delivering the Defence Testbed Accelerator programme. The programme is supporting the Ministry of Defence and its manufacturing supply chain to securely manage and share manufacturing design data to support and increase agility in distributed additive manufacture (3D printing) of parts.
By creating a trusted environment in which digital design files can be securely accessed, stored and shared, the programme not only strengthens supply chain resilience but also accelerates innovation by providing an independent testbed where teams can rapidly experiment and validate technologies in a fraction of the time required under traditional procurement. At the same time, it builds sovereign digital capability by fostering a trusted ecosystem of the MoD, OEMs and SMEs, broadening the UK’s pool of innovators able to respond to real-world Defence challenges, and aligning directly with the ambitions of the Advanced Manufacturing Strategy and the Defence Industrial Strategy to enhance national resilience, security and productivity.
Through our international accelerator programme, supported by Leonardo UK and BAE Systems, Digital Catapult provided secure collaboration environments and direct access to defence primes to help UK innovators validate and commercialise solutions for cross-border markets. Similarly, our quantum innovation programme provides specialist technical expertise, experimentation environments, access to the ORCA PT-1 photonics quantum computer, and industry partnerships to test emerging quantum technologies for defence and security applications. These interventions demonstrate how shared test environments, expert validation capability and structured routes to market act as critical infrastructure that enables deep tech innovation to be scaled and translated into defence and security solutions.
Increased Defence spending signals ambition, but funding alone will not deliver resilience or speed. The UK must invest in the digital and industrial infrastructure that enables innovation to be tested, validated and deployed at pace. If the UK intends to maintain its strategic edge, investment must reach beyond platforms alone and focus equally on the environments that translate innovation into capability. Only then will Defence spending deliver on long-term strategic advantage.