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techUK responds to Defence Investment Plan publication

30 June 20263 min read
Policy Views
techUK responds to Defence Investment Plan publication

The plan is here, and there is real progress

Originally due in autumn 2025, the Defence Investment Plan sets out how the MoD will deliver on the ambitions of last year’s Strategic Defence Review. It rightly puts artificial intelligence and autonomy at the heart of future capability, across all domains including cyber. It sets out in the clearest terms yet what a future “hybrid navy” will look like, with uncrewed platforms supported by new combat vessels, alongside commitments to Collaborative Combat Aircraft working with Tempest and Apache helicopters, a new programme for uncrewed ground vehicles, a nearly £2 billion AI-underpinned Digital Targeting Web, and a dedicated Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce. This is genuine progress on technology empowering defence, and techUK members are committed to delivering it. 

What now needs to follow

Capability of this kind succeeds or fails on the wider technology environment around it. These autonomous systems are only as good as the digital backbone beneath them. Drones, loyal wingmen and uncrewed vessels will only deliver at the speed and scale required if they are underpinned by resilient, interoperable networks, sensors and data infrastructure that let platforms communicate, share targeting information and operate as a single integrated force. That same ambition must extend to people: the skills, training and workforce pipeline the sector needs to build, integrate and sustain these technologies. And it must be matched by a clear pathway to 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035, with high-level commitments translated into specific, funded programmes that have real routes to market. 

Restoring confidence to the DefTech industry

There is no denying that the delay to the Defence Investment Plan has hindered the development of the UK’s defence tech industry. A techUK survey of members in May found that almost half were still waiting for a contract extension that should have been settled by the end of the last financial year. It is now essential that the MoD urgently resolves the backlog of awarded-but-not-contracted tenders, and that the new technology set out in the plan is ordered now and commissioned as soon as possible. Moving at pace, backed by the commercial officer capacity needed to convert intent into contract on a credible timeline, is how we repair that damage and make the UK a global defence tech leader. 

In response to the DIP’s publication

We welcome the Defence Investment Plan, ending uncertainty for the UK's defence tech sector and its international partners. It must now deliver and with urgency: the country faces growing threats, and digitised armed forces are essential, not optional. We are encouraged that it acknowledges the critical role that new technologies will play in the UK’s national security.
Next, the MOD must set a pathway to 3.5% of GDP defence spending by 2035, translate commitments into funded programmes with clear routes to market, and fix the commercial capacity gap holding up contracting. This will allow it to engage industry on implementation sequencing, so techUK members, including SMEs, can align priorities and invest in the necessary skills.

Julian David

CEO, techUK

For more on the work of techUK’s defence programme, contact Jeremy Wimble.

What the DIP means for Defence Tech:

  • Over £5 billion across four years for a drone transformation, including £650 million for inexpensive expendable autonomous systems and uncrewed ground vehicles for the Army, Commando Force and Special Forces. 

  • Nearly £2 billion for a new, AI-underpinned Digital Targeting Web to speed up decision-making and targeting. 

  • £100 million for the Prime Minister's Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce (RAID), plus £115 million to raise the UK's defences against AI-related threats, including biosecurity and risks from autonomous AI agents. 

  • £900 million for procurement reform and efficiency, including a £500 million Transformation Fund for AI and workforce transformation. 

  • A new £50 billion UK Export Finance facility to help British defence firms win contracts globally. 

Click here to read for techUK's full analysis of the DIP and what it means for the Defence Tech sector.

For more on techUK's defence programme contact Jeremy Wimble.