UKDI Security Open Call 2026 Cycle 2: Transport Resilience Added
UKDI has added a new focus area to its Security Open Call 2026 Cycle 2, with the Department for Transport looking for proposals that could strengthen the security and resilience of the UK transport network. This widens the addressable scope of the competition beyond its original security challenges, creating a potential entry point for SMEs working in areas like sensing, surveillance, communications, or cyber who have relevant dual-use capability. The competition document is published and accessible now.
Source →MOD Single-Source Contracting Now at 47% of Total Spend
The MOD's 2026 Trade, Industry and Contracts Statistical Bulletin shows that non-competitive single-source contracting has risen to 47% of the MOD's £43.4 billion total spend in 2025/26. For SMEs without an existing position on a framework or inside a prime's supply chain, this trend narrows the proportion of spend that is openly competed. Worth reading alongside your own pipeline assumptions about how MOD business is actually won.
Source →CBRN Detection Support Contract: £39 Million in Pipeline
A support contract worth an estimated £39 million is being lined up to maintain UK military CBRN detection equipment, according to UK Defence Journal. No procurement notice has been published yet, so this is an early signal rather than a live opportunity. SMEs with CBRN, sensors, or maintenance capability should watch for the formal notice and note the scale of the requirement.
Source →Royal Marines Seeking Maritime Interdiction Operations Training Facility
The MOD wants to build a maritime interdiction operations training facility at Royal Marines Bickleigh, with an option on a second at the Commando Training Centre Lympstone. Details are limited at this stage, but the requirement points toward simulation, physical training infrastructure, or scenario-based systems. SMEs in maritime, training systems, or simulation should look for the associated procurement notice.
Source →DPRTE and DCI Webinar on Dual-Use Technology as SME Route into Defence: 15 October
DPRTE and Defence Contracts International are hosting a free online webinar on 15 October examining how dual-use technologies open routes for SMEs into UK defence, with techUK participating and the event serving as a lead-in to the National Defence Summit in Manchester. For founders who have not yet navigated the transition from commercial to defence markets, this is a practical forum, not a marketing event. The dual-use framing is directly relevant to SMEs in cyber, autonomy, communications, and sensing who are working out how to position existing capability for defence buyers.
Source →The dominant theme today is access, with the UKDI open call and dual-use webinar both pointing toward structured routes in for SMEs, while the rise in single-source contracting is a reminder of how much MOD spend never reaches open competition.