The Ministry of Defence does not hold a central record of all drones produced within the UK for military use.

Nevertheless, as highlighted by the Strategic Defence Review, drones now play an essential role in warfare across the land, maritime and air domains, which is why the Defence Investment Plan prioritises uncrewed systems, investing more than £5 billion in a plethora of platforms over the next four years alone. This funding will accelerate the transformation of our Armed Forces, rebuilding warfighting readiness and ensuring our forces are equipped for modern warfare.

To give just a few examples, £230 million will be spent on autonomous systems for seabed warfare to protect critical national infrastructure; £400m will be spent to deliver a suite of inexpensive, expendable autonomous systems and weapons to rapidly enhance the lethality of the Army, Commando Force and Special Forces; and we will invest £50 million on a variety of novel payloads, such as swarms of small drones, able to be launched from a wide range of crewed and uncrewed aircraft.

While Defence is actively researching, developing and experimenting with autonomous and collaborative behaviours, including swarming concepts, these activities remain in the assessment, experimentation and capability development phases and have not yet matured to a level suitable for operational service.

The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) outlined £150 million to commence a programme to rapidly develop and produce uncrewed vehicles for the Army, through UK industry.

This programme will build upon a substantial body of UK-funded research, development and experimentation undertaken by the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, industry and academia over a number of years. This body of research has included operational analysis and experimentation of the employment of uncrewed ground vehicles and the development of autonomous solutions.

As part of the largest ever drone investment in Defence, we are spending over £5 billion on autonomous systems by 2030. Based on current plans, this equates to approximately 1.7% of the expenditure set out in the Plan's four-year funding period. I would expect this to increase further as the technologies, tactics and platforms mature.

The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) outlined £150 million to commence a programme to rapidly develop and produce uncrewed vehicles for the Army, through UK industry.

The investment will support the development and procurement of a range of uncrewed ground vehicles for the British Army. These systems are expected to span a variety of payload capacities and, where appropriate, will employ common-base platforms and modular payloads to provide flexibility and value for money.

The recent trial was successful demonstration of a novel deployment method for uncrewed surface vessels, demonstrating the potential for rapid deployment of autonomous maritime capabilities in contested or hard-to-access environments. Further information about the trial can be found at the following website:

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2026/july/08/20260708-uncrewed-vessels-airdropped-in-pioneering-trial-supported-by-royal-navy

No date has yet been set for the achievement of Initial Operating Capability for the deployment of uncrewed surface vessels from A400M aircraft. The capability remains subject to further testing and assessment.

The recent trial was successful demonstration of a novel deployment method for uncrewed surface vessels, demonstrating the potential for rapid deployment of autonomous maritime capabilities in contested or hard-to-access environments. Further information about the trial can be found at the following website:

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2026/july/08/20260708-uncrewed-vessels-airdropped-in-pioneering-trial-supported-by-royal-navy

No date has yet been set for the achievement of Initial Operating Capability for the deployment of uncrewed surface vessels from A400M aircraft. The capability remains subject to further testing and assessment.

The Taskforce is working on four core ‘challenge sets’, identified by the Military Commands, to deliver end-to-end advantage to the Integrated Force, one of which is delivering operational impact by using ‘swarms’ of AI-enabled uncrewed systems.

Defence, including the Military Commands, has several projects exploring uncrewed swarming systems at various stages, from experimentation to proof of concept. These projects are being supported by the Taskforce, which is accelerating the development and fielding of advanced swarming capabilities across Defence to deliver a step-change in mass, coordination and operational effectiveness. One key example the Taskforce is supporting is Project BEEHIVE, a joint endeavour between the Royal Navy and UK Defence Innovation to deliver 20 uncrewed surface vessels to the Surface Flotilla and Commando Force.

Details of other specific capabilities are withheld as their disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

ARX Robotics UK systems were evaluated during a British Army exercise in Estonia in May 2026. The trial provided useful evidence regarding the potential of uncrewed ground systems to enhance situational awareness and support reconnaissance activities.

The Uncrewed Systems Centre’s governance structure comprises seven capability pillars to cohere, coordinate and collaborate across the Defence uncrewed systems portfolio, with two of those pillars focused on Research & Development and Digital Integration and Security. The scope of these pillars is to develop and deliver the strategies to ensure uncrewed systems development adheres to the identified hardware and data standards and protocols for interoperability and security, so uncrewed systems development is secure by design and interoperable with wider defence networks.

The UK faces a defining moment. Our adversaries are rapidly deploying AI to enhance capability and gain strategic advantage. The UK must be ready for the modern battlespace. The Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce (TF RAID) was formally launched on 10 June and shows delivery of the Strategic Defence Review in action: shifting our conventional forces towards greater use of AI-enabled capabilities, on a timeline measured in months, not years.

AI is already widely integrated in projects across Defence in both the battle and business space. TF RAID reflects the imperative to deliver operational advantage to the frontline through AI-enabled interventions, quickly, and provides a focussed means by which to do so. The Taskforce is established now and will deliver tangible operational impact to the military commands through a series of sprints over the next six to nine months. It will not be a frontline unit operating military capability.

TF RAID is led by a Military Director at 2* level, supported by a core team of over 60 civil servants, service personnel and contractors; with wider teams providing support from across the whole of Defence. As a temporary team, the size of the core Taskforce team will vary subject to the delivery requirements. The civil servants and service personnel have been drawn from existing Defence staff, supported by talent recruited, on a temporary or fixed term basis, from the private sector.

The Taskforce’s core ‘bench’ of AI and data specialists is working alongside embedded military product owners from the Frontline Commands to ensure solutions are driven by the needs of the end-users.

Taskforce RAID is an engine for UK industry. It is adopting a co-creation model to access a broader market and boost UK SMEs. The model is designed to diversify the supplier base and lower barriers for entry for new, innovative companies. The Taskforce gives industry unique access to real-world operational problems, direct engagement with military users, and a credible, accelerated route to deployment.

The Taskforce has an initial ringfenced budget of £20 million that will allow it to focus on the most pressing operational priorities. This will be reviewed as impact is delivered

The UK continues to work closely with international partners through the Demining Capability Coalition to support Ukraine's demining requirements. Through this collaboration, the Coalition provides equipment, training and specialist expertise, including technologies that help reduce the risk to personnel operating in hazardous environments. Support is delivered in response to Ukrainian priorities, and the UK remains committed to working with allies and Ukraine to develop the capabilities needed to address explosive hazards safely and effectively.

Uncrewed systems are currently operating at British Army Training Unit Suffield. The site also supports the testing and evaluation of these systems across its 2,700 km² training area. As outlined in the Defence Investment Plan, future investment will better exploit the site's unique scale and freedom of manoeuvre, supporting the accelerated development and delivery of uncrewed systems capability.

The UK has a thriving ecosystem of manufacturers contributing to uncrewed capability, from component level manufacturers and Small and Medium Enterprises through to prime manufacturers.

The Defence Investment Plan sets out a growing level of investment in autonomy and uncrewed systems. We expect this increased spending to drive further growth across the defence industrial base, strengthening sovereign supply chains and expanding manufacturing capacity.

The Defence Investment Plan outlined £150 million to commence a programme to rapidly develop and produce uncrewed vehicles for the Army, through UK industry. This will capitalise on, and accelerate, the hitherto industry-led research & development of heavy and medium uncrewed ground vehicles.

Thereafter, other Land programmes may begin to draw on this uncrewed ground vehicle development, hence the importance of generating versatility. Work to determine the precise platforms is ongoing.

Autonomous capability is at the forefront of Uncrewed Systems development across air, land, maritime and sub-surface domains. Ministry of Defence will optimise use of the Test, Trials, Training & Evaluation partnership with QinetiQ backed by a £1.54 billion contract extension from 2025 to 2030 which is running in parallel to the Test & Evaluation Transformation Programme. Greater use will be made of innovative high-fidelity synthetic testing from 2029.

The DroneTEX investment project has £234 million committed, with the Defence Investment Plan committing £310 million to further develop the Uncrewed Systems Centre, autonomy testing infrastructure and fund personnel to deliver world class validation of autonomy capabilities.

Defence is spending over £5 billion on autonomous systems to enable transformation by 2030 which is the largest ever drone investment in Defence. We recognise that more testing capability is required to support this and so have announced the new Defence Uncrewed Systems Centre in Swindon, including the recently opened DroneTEX testing facility, to coordinate all output with industry, partners, and allies.

In addition to the large number of current drone testing sites in the UK and in our overseas territories, we will invest to exploit the size, scale, and freedom of the key site in Canada at the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) for testing and evaluation and to accelerate delivery of capability. This will enable uncrewed systems activity across 2,700m² of training area.

Defence is spending over £5 billion on autonomous systems to enable transformation by 2030 which is the largest ever drone investment in Defence. We recognise that more testing capability is required to support this and so have announced the new Defence Uncrewed Systems Centre in Swindon, including the recently opened DroneTEX testing facility, to coordinate all output with industry, partners, and allies.

In addition to the large number of current drone testing sites in the UK and in our overseas territories, we will invest to exploit the size, scale, and freedom of the key site in Canada at the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) for testing and evaluation and to accelerate delivery of capability. This will enable uncrewed systems activity across 2,700m² of training area.

Given the speed of technical innovation in uncrewed and autonomous systems, the MOD is mindful of the need to accelerate acquisition timelines, including approval timelines for testing.

The new Defence Uncrewed Systems Centre in Swindon is taking a lead role in addressing regulation in the autonomy space, with the aim to establish a regulatory pathway for defence innovation which will help reduce timelines.

As part of our commitment to support SMEs and aid UK growth the MOD and QinetiQ, who operate MOD’s Test & Evaluation ranges, have introduced a Test & Evaluation Innovation Gateway to accelerate access and availability.