Thirteen British businesses have been awarded contracts of up to £4m to work with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to boost rapid procurement and deliver cutting-edge technology for the UK Armed Forces.
The new scheme gives accelerated contracts to small, innovative British companies who have done limited or no previous business with the MoD.
Contracts have been awarded to companies from across England, Wales and Scotland spanning from quantum sensing and autonomous systems, to secure communications, space manufacturing and synthetic training.
The contracts have been issued through Commercial X, the MoD’s accelerated contracting vehicle, and support jobs in communities across Britain including Devon, Edinburgh, Newport in Wales and West Yorkshire.
All the companies were founded after 2011, and the majority started in the last six years.
The contracted firms include The RC Den, which builds practical robotics, drone software and custom software; Nereus Medical, which provides products and solutions for the prevention, diagnosis and management of heat illness in the military; and Kraken Technology Group, which offers advanced British naval architecture and engineering.
“SMEs have the potential to be the heart of innovation in Britain, and it is only by backing SMEs that you build the domestic supply chain resilience that sovereign capability depends upon,” says Praful Nargund, director of The Good Growth Foundation (GGF).
“Yet too often they are locked out of defence contracts, and defence investment flows overseas rather than building resilience in Britain. By backing our innovators, giving them the contacts and capitals to grow, we can create the conditions to build Britain’s next defence unicorn.”
Last week, the government’s National Wealth Fund invested £25m in British engineering company Rowden Technologies, marking its first investment directly supporting defence, national security and resilience.
