UKDI Opens £1M Competition Across Five Capability Gaps
UK Defence Innovation has launched Cycle 8 of its Innovation Support to Operations competition, targeting five named capability gaps including counter-drone interceptor sensors and GNSS-denied maritime navigation. At £1 million total, this is a live, open competition for UK-based businesses and academia. If your work touches counter-UAS, autonomous systems, or contested navigation, this is a direct funding route worth examining now. The competition document is published and the DPRTE summary confirms the call is open.
UKDI Security Open Call 2026 Cycle 1 Also Live
UKDI has separately published the competition document for its Security Open Call 2026 Cycle 1, inviting proposals that address security challenges faced by government stakeholders. Details in the signal are thin beyond the title and competition document publication. Worth pulling the full document to assess whether your capability fits the stated challenge areas before committing time to a bid.
Army Digital, Security and Intelligence Industry Engagement Event
The Army's Directorate of Digital, Security and Intelligence (D DSI) is running an industry engagement event in 2026, explicitly framed as information exchange rather than a procurement activity. Attendance does not confer advantage in future bids, but it signals which capability areas D DSI is actively thinking about and who they want to hear from. If your work sits in military digital, cyber, or intelligence support, this is worth tracking for the date and registration details.
Royal Navy PPA Framework: Three Maritime Spares Call-offs Awarded
Defence Equipment Support's Power, Propulsion and Auxiliaries team has awarded at least three call-off contracts (SPA706, SPA710, SPA711) under its Multi Supplier Framework Agreement for Royal Navy platform spares. These are awards, not open opportunities, but they confirm the PPA framework is active and generating regular call-offs. If you supply or manufacture maritime systems components and are not on this framework, that is the gap to investigate.
New MOD Chief Digital and Information Officer Appointed
Dan Rodenhurst has been appointed as the MOD's Chief Digital and Information Officer, succeeding Charles Forte, and will lead all MOD digital and data teams. Leadership changes at this level typically signal a period of strategic review and can shift priorities around digital programmes, data architecture, and supplier relationships. Firms working in defence digital, data, or C4ISR should note the name and watch for any early signals about programme direction or supplier engagement under the new leadership.
Today's edition is dominated by live innovation funding and digital leadership change, with UKDI running two concurrent open competitions and a new MOD CDIO arriving at a moment when defence digital spending is growing.