Work is being conducted to assess the compatibility of relevant projects/activities in the RAF Rapid Capabilities Office with the USAF Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A-GRA).

For example, the UK's PYRAMID Technical Standard open avionics system reference architecture developed by the Ministry of Defence has been shown to be compatible with the A-GRA.

Due to reasons of operational security, I am unable to provide any further detail beyond that already contained in the press release.

The Government is implementing Recommendation 7 of the Strategic Defence Review through reforms to Defence's Science, Technology and Innovation system, ensuring it is better aligned to Defence priorities and able to deliver technological advantage at greater pace.

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) continue to provide Defence's core research, analysis and evaluation capabilities, including long-term and applied research and the development of technologies critical to national security. The Ministry of Defence has also established UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), delivering the Strategic Defence Review recommendation to provide dedicated funding to support innovative UK companies and accelerate the adoption of technologies that strengthen Defence and Security capability. Together with the Defence Investment Unit, these organisations form a more integrated science, technology and innovation system within the National Armaments Director Group.

The Ministry of Defence has also launched the Defence Universities Alliance, bringing together 35 universities to strengthen collaboration on research, skills and talent development, and is implementing a new approach to horizon scanning and strategic foresight. This work has been informed by engagement across Government and supports the Department's wider Science, Technology and Innovation ambitions set out in both the Strategic Defence Review and Defence Industrial Strategy.

Defence continues to engage with companies, SMEs, investors and academic institutions across the defence and dual-use technology sectors to support innovation, strengthen the UK industrial base and bolster UK sovereign capability. However, the Department does not maintain records of engagement categorised by Parliamentary constituency.

The government does not direct what technology police forces can procure and deploy. This is a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables, accountable to locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners. However, the Home Office recognises the importance of being able to better link data across multiple systems and using cutting edge technology to improve operational outcomes. That’s why in the White Paper From Local to National: A New Model for Policing published in January this year we announced reforms to policing including launching a new National Data Integration and Exploitation Service, introducing a new National Centre for AI in Policing (“PoliceAI”) which is investing £115 million over the next 3 years. Police AI will provide a platform for identifying, testing and then scaling AI technology, as well as enabling Chief Constables to deploy AI responsibly and in a way which builds and maintains public consent.

Detailed delivery timelines for the Royal Navy’s Maritime Data Gathering programme remain in development.

DSIT plays a central role in delivering the National Security Strategy by helping to ensure the UK’s science and technology base is secure, resilient and aligned with national security objectives.

Since its publication, the department has strengthened its international partnerships in priority technologies to support UK growth and security, including through strategic science and innovation partnerships with Germany and the Netherlands and the UK-Japan Industrial Strategy Partnership.

EREBUS is a UK‑developed flight test capability enabling realistic testing of Defensive Aid Systems before installation on frontline aircraft. Developed by Dstl with UK Industry, it reduces integration risk and cost, supports rapid upgrades, strengthens international collaboration, and helps maintain world‑leading air‑protection capabilities.

EREBUS has the potential to significantly accelerate the adoption of Defensive Aid Suites by de‑risking system integration and performance at every stage of the development cycle.

The Future Maritime Data Gathering (FMDG) programme is exploring a range of technologies, including uncrewed and autonomous systems, advanced sensors, and improved data‑processing tools.

Teledyne Marine will supply numerous autonomous ocean observing systems, including Sentinel and Slocum gliders (a sensor to gather relevant environmental data for military exploitation), APEX floats (which can take subsurface measurements), and associated services, enabling the Royal Navy to expand its fleet of advanced uncrewed technologies.

These capabilities will support operational planning, maritime safety, and Defence activities, directly supporting Atlantic Bastion.

The UK Ministry of Defence has an ongoing relationship with DARPA, which ranges from information sharing to active collaboration on specific projects. No specific engagement has been undertaken on the SPRINT Programme, nor assessment of the X-76 demonstrator aircraft for RAF roles.

Commercial X, established by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in 2022, is a team of Commercial officers dedicated to disrupting and modernising Defence’s approach to acquisition while reducing bureaucracy. Its mission is to deliver groundbreaking technology and innovation to the MOD more quickly. It achieves this through three key approaches:

• Positive Disrupters: A team of experts in procuring and scaling innovation and digital solutions at speed. They collaborate directly with frontline teams to deliver contracts valued up to £50 million within two years, driving pace by innovating within existing processes.
• Modernising Procurement: A team committed to overhauling procurement processes and policies to better support fast-moving innovation, cutting through excessive bureaucracy and red tape.
• Specialist Skills Development: A development programme designed to build the commercial officers of the future—equipping them to be digital-savvy, risk-smart, customer-focused, and agile.

Notable deliverables to date: delivery of circa 650 innovation and technology contracts with an average time to contract of 31 days, 47% faster than average timelines for similar procurements. The creation of two new platforms to support small, business-friendly buying routes where suppliers can compete for contracts in technology and innovation. Recent notable contracts include: DragonFire, Hypersonics and NATO Allied Underwater Battlespace,

The three integrated modern technology services that were delivered by IPT are:

• Access UK – Accessed via GOV.UK, this single online application service for all visa and immigration services allows our customers to complete their application, book an appointment, and pay for their service. It has taken large volumes of paper out of the system and integrates with Atlas, the caseworking system, preventing errors being made in the completion of applications. The Department uses Access to provide application services to all our core immigration routes including building emergency routes for crisis events such as Ukraine or Afghanistan.
• Atlas – This modern, resilient system is now the core immigration caseworking tool for HO. Atlas supports electronic documents, thereby taking significant amounts of paper out of the system. Because of increased automation, there are reduced handling costs, improved speed of processing and increased reliability of service.
• Person Identity Product – The Person Identity Product (PIP) is now the unified provider of all person related data services for Immigration Technology, showing the historic case information, co-ordinating the recording of Person & Identity related data, searching for an individual’s details, matching associated data and presenting data back to the end user.

Please see 6 September 2022: Immigration Platform Technologies (IPT) Programme Accounting Officer Assessment - GOV.UK for further details.

As an independent research body custom built to fund high-risk, high-reward scientific research, Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) has autonomy in its project choice and partnerships and has regular discussions with a number of public bodies, including DSTL. ARIA is not currently working on a defence project with DSTL.

The Global Decision Support System is in the capability planning and concept development stage. The establishment of a funded project remains dependant on Defence investment prioritisation.

The Defence Energy and Capability Resilience Centre of Excellence (DECX) will be established from the start of the next financial year.

The Regulatory Solutions Hub is expected to be launched in 2026.

As set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy, our Test and Evaluation Transformation programme is piloting the provision of a high-fidelity virtual test range, focused on the evaluation of UK equipment in the most demanding operational environments. This project will pave the way for the UK Defence enterprise to rapidly test, innovate and integrate systems against the most demanding operational use-cases.

Since publication of the Defence Industrial Strategy, the project’s technical approach has been tested through the largest and most ambitious multinational trial ever undertaken on a virtual range of this type. This successfully validated the technical direction of the project and work is underway to establish the facilities needed to expand access to the pilot by the summer of 2026.

Wargaming, such as the December 2024 Industry Wargame, helps the Ministry of Defence, industry, and wider society identify and address risks, enhancing operational resilience and ensuring mission continuity in contested environments. The exercise yielded critical insights across multiple areas essential for surging capacity and scaling to full warfighting readiness. Achieving this requires strengthening strategic collaboration with industry and international partners, alongside further developing enablers such as appropriate legislation, financial frameworks, specialist skills development, and digital transformation.

Considerable progress is already underway, including work on a Defence Readiness Bill, the formation of a dedicated scenario planning and modelling capability, accelerated digital system upgrades for secure information sharing, and cross-Government efforts to access vital defence skills.

The Ministry of Defence plans to introduce a supplier resilience maturity assessment framework and tool as part of the Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme (DSCCP). This will be a phased approach involving piloting and testing in a live environment during the remainder of financial year 2025/26, with full implementation commencing in April 2026.

The framework—developed as part of a suite of proactive risk management mechanisms - and piloted with industry—enables structured assessment across twelve resilience domains, covering leadership, people, place, and operations, with sixty criteria in total. It is designed for use at both organisational and programme levels and supports MOD-led, supplier-led, or joint assessments. The accompanying tool provides both qualitative and quantitative scoring and visualisation. Final recommendations for implementation are expected following the pilot phase, which is currently underway.