MOD launches UK Defence Innovation and StratCom renamed
Announced in the Strategic Defence Review, last week UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) reached Initial Operating Capacity.
Sitting within the new National Armaments Directorate Group (NADG) under Defence Reform, and with a ringfenced annual budget of £400mn, UKDI is intended to dramatically simplify MOD’s innovation landscape. It brings together previously separate innovation organisations including the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), J-Hub, the Defence Innovation Unit (formerly within Head Office), and Future Capability Innovation (formerly within DE&S).
UKDI will work with the newly created Military Strategic Headquarters (MSHQ) to agree capability priorities, engage industry and academia, ensuring ‘that game-changing technologies can be rapidly identified, developed, and deployed to the front line’. This represents a marked shift from FLCs setting requirements themselves before going to market, as before. FLC innovation units will remain in existence, but their work will be directed and financially resourced by UKDI.
In practice, UKDI will be responsible for those acquisitions that fall under the three-month ‘rapid commercial innovation’ cycle of MOD’s new segmented approach to procurement.
UKDI will also enhance the MOD’s regional engagement, building on the previous work of DASA Outreach and FLC Innovation Scouts. Regional Innovation Managers will lead teams of tech scouts and others responsible for acting a single point of contact for MOD SME services as well as driving industry and academic interaction. They will also lead engagement with the Regional Defence and Security Clusters.
Finally, a ‘Rapid Innovation Team’ which will focus on the delivery of dual-use capabilities, working at a ‘wartime pace’.
techUK has long argued that the fragmented nature of MOD’s existing innovation ecosystem has led to a disjointed and inefficient approach to the development and acquisition of new technologies. With the creation of clearer lines of command – both horizontally, with problem setting between MSHQ and UKDI, and vertically from UKDI down to FLC innovation units - the dangers of duplication should be avoided.
Also announced last week, Strategic Command (StratCom) will be renamed Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC). It will continue to be led by General Sir James Hockenhull, sitting alongside the Front-Line Commands within MSHQ under the Chief of the Defence Staff. The new name reflects its enhanced responsibilities for the cyber domain, as well as its continuing role with UK Special Forces, medical services, and intelligence.
These changes are just the latest in a series of reforms carried out by Defence over the past 12 months, leading up to the Strategic Defence Review. You can find an explainer on those changes here, as well as our summary of the SDR.
For more on the work of techUK's Defence Programme, email Jeremy Wimble.
Jeremy Wimble
Programme Manager, Defence, techUK
Jeremy manages techUK's defence programme, helping the UK's defence technology sector align itself with the Ministry of Defence - including Defence Digital, DE&S, innovation units and Frontline Commands - through a broad range of activities including private briefings and early market engagement events. It also supports the MOD as it procures new digital technologies.
Prior to joining techUK, from 2016-2024 Jeremy was International Security Programme Manager at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) coordinating research and impact activities for funders including the FCDO and US Department of Defense, as well as business development and strategy.
Jeremy has a MA in International Relations from the University of Birmingham and a BA (Hons) in Politics & Social Policy from Swansea University.
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- [email protected]
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Meet the team
Fred Sugden
Associate Director, Defence and National Security, techUK
Fred is responsible for techUK's activities across the Defence and National Security sectors, working to provide members with access to key stakeholders across the Defence and National Security community. Before taking on the role of Associate Director for Defence and National Security, Fred joined techUK in 2018, working as the Programme Head for Defence at techUK, leading the organisation's engagement with the Ministry of Defence. Before joining techUK, he worked at ADS, the national trade association representing Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space companies in the UK.
Fred is responsible for techUK’s market engagement and policy development activities across the Defence and National Security sectors, working closely with various organisations within the Ministry of Defence, and across the wider National Security and Intelligence community. Fred works closely with many techUK member companies that have an interest in these sectors, and is responsible for the activities of techUK's senior Defence & Security Board. Working closely with techUK's Programme Head for Cyber Security, Fred oversees a broad range of activities for techUK members.
Outside of work, Fred's interests include football (a Watford FC fan) and skiing.
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Jeremy Wimble
Programme Manager, Defence, techUK
Jeremy manages techUK's defence programme, helping the UK's defence technology sector align itself with the Ministry of Defence - including Defence Digital, DE&S, innovation units and Frontline Commands - through a broad range of activities including private briefings and early market engagement events. It also supports the MOD as it procures new digital technologies.
Prior to joining techUK, from 2016-2024 Jeremy was International Security Programme Manager at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) coordinating research and impact activities for funders including the FCDO and US Department of Defense, as well as business development and strategy.
Jeremy has a MA in International Relations from the University of Birmingham and a BA (Hons) in Politics & Social Policy from Swansea University.
- Email:
- [email protected]
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Francesca Richiusa
Programme Team Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK
Fran serves as the Programme Team Assistant within techUK’s Public Sector Market Programmes, where she is responsible for delivering comprehensive team support, managing administrative functions, and fostering strong relationships with members.
Prior to joining techUK in May 2025, Fran built a meaningful career in the charitable and local government sectors. She worked extensively with both victims and perpetrators of crime, and notably led the coordination of Domestic Homicide Reviews across Surrey—an initiative aimed at identifying lessons and preventing future incidents of domestic abuse.
Outside of work, Fran is an avid traveller and a proud cat mum who enjoys unwinding with her feline companions.
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