The UK is offering greater than 1 million kilos ($1.3 million) to help the event of early-stage applied sciences that might form future autonomous army methods throughout land, sea, and air.
Launched by UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) on behalf of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory’s Autonomy Programme Incubator, the competitors is looking for novel science and know-how ideas at Technology Readiness Levels 1 and a pair of.
UKDI mentioned it’s notably involved in ideas that might create new army capabilities, change how current duties are carried out, or determine rising threats which will require new countermeasures.
Proposals might embody solely new scientific approaches or applied sciences already utilized in different sectors however not but utilized to protection. High-risk or speculative analysis may even be thought-about, offered it has a foundation in scientific principle.
Funding might be awarded by means of a two-stage course of. The first stage has 600,000 kilos ($805,000) accessible, with particular person proposals capped at 60,000 kilos ($80,493). Successful candidates will then be invited to submit detailed proposals for the second stage, which is anticipated to supply one other 600,000 kilos.
Projects are anticipated to start in November and run for not more than three months.
UK Calls for Defense Technology
The newest competitors follows a number of UK funding calls geared toward accelerating protection applied sciences.
In February, UKDI launched a problem looking for methods that could possibly be fielded inside a yr, with priorities including sensors for counter-drone interceptors able to monitoring quick, low-flying threats and passive seekers for one-way assault drones that may resist countermeasures.
The initiative follows a 1-million-pound ($1.3 million) competitors launched in December 2025 to develop autonomous sensor systems able to detecting and countering deception in intelligence and surveillance operations.