Notice

Competition Document: Innovation Support to Operations Phase 3 (Cycle 7)

Published 24 February 2026

1. Introduction

This UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) themed competition is looking for innovative proposals that are cost competitive, designed for manufacture, and can be scaled in an approximate twelve-month timeframe.

This is Phase 3, Cycle 7 of a multiple phase competition.  Proposals submitted by the cycle deadline will follow the UKDI “How your proposal will be assessed” process with contracting immediately afterwards for successful proposals.

UKDI reserves the right to change or close the competition without launching further cycles.

Outputs from funded projects may be considered for further development or procurement, subject to contract. In this circumstance the Authority (Secretary of State for Defence, acting on behalf of the Crown) will undertake appropriate procurement activity to ensure value for money and subject to any applicable Regulations that may pertain.

2. Competition key information

Key Information	Competition Details
Submission deadline	Cycle 7: 12:00 Midday on 12 May 2026 (BST)
Funding limits and expectations	We are expecting proposals to cost no more than £350,000. A number of proposals may be funded. Your proposal must not exceed £1,000,000 (excluding VAT)
Technology Readiness Level (TRL)	Reach at least TRL 6 by the end of the project
Contract start month	Aim to start early September 2026
Project duration	Equal to or less than six months from the project start date
Cyber Risk Assessment (CRA) number and risk level	RAR-REUZYEQ, Cyber Risk Profile – Level 2
Feedback release date	Cycle 7: August 2026
Pre-sift criteria	See Section 8 Pre-sift Criteria

2.1 Competition Specific Requirements

Please note that this competition has specific deliverables as part of its pre-sift criteria. Only those proposals that demonstrate compliance with the UKDI pre-sift criteria will be taken forward to full assessment. For the full list of criteria, please see Section 8.

• we are expecting proposals to cost no more than £350,000. Your proposal must not exceed £1,000,000 (excluding VAT)

• the final deliverable month indicated must be less than or equal to 6 months from the project start date agreed by both parties

• the proposal output to reach at least TRL 6 at the end of the agreed project. Please refer to the TRL guide

• your proposal must detail any overseas supply chain dependencies and the risk if disrupted which would impact the ability to deliver your proposed solution at scale, and if appropriate how these dependencies could be mitigated

• all innovators must ensure that they can obtain, if required, the necessary export licences for their proposals and developments, such that they can deliver to at least TRL 6 demonstration timelines and be supplied to the UK and other countries

• to be eligible to submit a proposal into this competition you must be a UK organisation registered at Companies House, based in the UK, and plan to carry out the work in the UK. Your organisation does not need to be UK-owned

• the proposal includes indicative costs for the quantities detailed in challenges 1, 2 and 4

• the proposal does not require MODREC, due to the extended timelines to achieve MODREC

2.2 Where do I submit my proposal?

Via the UKDI Online Submission Service where you will need to register for an account. Only proposals submitted through the UKDI Online Submission Service will be accepted.

2.3 Public facing information

When submitting your proposal, you will be required to include a title, Proposal Value Proposition Statement (PVPS) and a short abstract. The title, PVPS and abstract you provide will be used by UKDI, and Partners Across Government (PAG), to describe your project and its intended outcomes and benefits. They may be included at UKDI events in relation to this competition and in documentation such as brochures. As this information can be shared, it should not contain information that may compromise Intellectual Property.

2.4 Further guidance

For further guidance on what to expect during the submission process and how your proposal will be assessed, please see the following GOV.UK pages and forms:

• Submit a proposal
• Assessment process and criteria
• Defence and Security Accelerator: ethical, legal and regulatory guidance
• MODREC Guidance for Suppliers
• Competition Terms and Conditions
• UKDI Standard Terms and Conditions
• Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ)
• How to get in touch with your local Innovation Partner

3. Support opportunities

3.1 Innovation Outline

To ensure your innovation is clearly understood and accurately assessed, innovators are encouraged to engage with their local UKDI Innovation Partner at the earliest opportunity and begin completing an Innovation Outline. The Innovation Outline provides a structured way to articulate your idea, its potential impact, and how it aligns with the aims of the competition. Early engagement with your Innovation Partner will help refine your proposal, identify any gaps, and strengthen its relevance before progressing to formal submission stages.

If you are uncertain of the relevance of your innovation, you can initiate contact with your local UKDI Innovation Partner through the submission of a Contact UKDI Form by following instructions on the Contact a UKDI Innovation Partner page if you do not already have an established relationship with your local Innovation Partner.

Your local Innovation Partner will initially explore the suitability of your idea within the context of the requirements of the competition, with specific interest in the aspects covered within the Competition Scope section.

If required, your Innovation Partner may also advise you on the submission of an Innovation Outline (IO), which is used to further explore the relevance of your idea to the competition.

You must submit this IO through the Submission Service regardless of an established relationship with your local Innovation Partner.

To submit an IO:

• log in to the submission service
• select the service category UKDI Innovation Outline
• from the service name select Innovation Outline: Innovation Support to Operations
• complete the form

Your local Innovation Partner will be able to advise you on the IO content.

Submission of an IO for this competition will allow socialisation of the idea across the competition team, all elements of the IO will be shared. The competition team is made up of UKDI and Dstl staff and Military experts across MOD. You should receive a response within two weeks, confirming whether or not your idea is in scope. This competition closes at 12:00 Midday on 12 May 2026 (BST). UKDI cannot guarantee a response to an IO received after 28 April 2026.

All information you provide to us as part of your IO, that is not already available to us from other sources, will be handled in confidence. We will only share the information with those who can establish if your innovation is within scope of the competition. The information will only be used for the purposes for which it is provided to us. It won’t be used for other purposes, without us having obtained the necessary rights and permissions to do so.

Submitting an IO or speaking to your local innovation partner is not a mandatory criteria of this competition.

3.2 Collaboration survey

We encourage collaboration between innovators for this competition. To support this, we have a short survey to collect details of those who wish to explore collaboration possibilities. If you are interested, please complete the collaboration survey.

The information (including personal details) you provide will be circulated among the innovators who have completed the survey. The sharing of details will only be done after an initial screening process has taken place; we reserve the right to not share all details.

All collaboration for proposal submissions is on an innovator to innovator basis. It is the innovators’ responsibility to determine the suitability of collaborators.

Inclusion or absence of collaboration will not affect assessment.

4. Competition scope

4.1 Background

The UK Government continuously evaluates insights from global events, to rapidly implement solutions that strengthen military and economic advantage.

This competition aims to identify and accelerate innovative solutions and techniques, ensuring they can be scaled and deployed faster than our adversaries.

4.2 Scope

Our areas of interest are: 

• Counter‑UAS Interceptor Sensors
• One‑Way Attack UAS Seeker
• UAS Survivability
• UAS Navigation
• Telemetry Data
• Maritime Autonomous Navigation
• Maritime Terminal Guidance

These challenges are designed to identify innovations that could be deployed, at an appropriate scale, in operational areas within 12 months.

It is therefore essential that proposals include not just what is proposed but also demonstrate that viable solutions can be manufactured and scaled up for deployment in a relevant timeframe.

4.3 Exploitation

Following demonstration and project completion, the project will either be allocated to a further development or procurement route or cease if no longer required.

If, following completion, a project is selected for further development or procurement then additional or alternative DEFCONs and/or clauses may likely apply to any future contract.

5. Competition challenges

This competition has 7 challenges. As well as brand new innovations, this competition welcomes proposals that outline an innovative approach to reusing existing products, which may not yet have been tested for these purposes, but which it is expected could be successfully applied to these challenges.

For all challenge areas, we are seeking to identify solutions and techniques that can be accelerated into scalable and deliverable effect faster than our adversaries at market leading prices.

5.1 Challenge 1: Counter UAS Interceptor Sensors

We are seeking sensor solutions for high‑speed counter‑unmanned aircraft system (UAS) interceptor UAS. Current sensors can rely on low-frame-rate cameras which create significant control challenges when attempting to engage high‑speed targets, particularly due to the rapid rates of closure. Solutions must have sufficient sensor performance to enable:

• identification and selection of a target UAS by a human operator
• manoeuvre to within 3 metres or less of the target at combined closing speeds of up to Mach 1

Systems will be required to automatically conduct terminal guidance, directing the interceptor during the final phase of engagement. An indicative target may include a fixed‑wing UAS of up to approximately 3 metres in size, operating at 150–400 km/h, at altitudes of up to 15,000 metres, and constructed from modern composite materials such as carbon fibre and fibreglass.

Solutions that can be adapted to changes in threat systems and operating environments are of particular interest. Systems are required to be effective both day and night and have some capacity to operate through cloud, fog and precipitation.

Solutions will be assessed against the following considerations:

• cost – Expected to be less than £2000 per unit
• integrability – ability to be easily integrated onto existing airframes by communicating with flight controllers using existing widely adopted protocols (i.e. MAVLINK, UAVCAN, CANBUS, MODBUS)
• small size, weight and power is strongly preferred. The most critical requirement is that the sensor fits into a form factor which enables integration onto interceptor UAVs with Max Take Off Weight (MTOW) not exceeding 25kg

Suppliers may be required to provide a demonstration platform; a GFE UK MOD platform may also be required. The MOD will provide the test scenario and range access for a mandatory end‑of‑project demonstration.

The proposal should include costs for reasonable travel and subsistence to support a 1-2 day trial event.

The proposal must include indicative costs for 10, 100 and 1,000 units per month.

5.2 Challenge 2: One-way Attack UAS seeker

A seeker is a sensor that detects, tracks, and guides a projectile or unmanned system toward its target. We are seeking novel, passive seeker solutions for use in sub-300kph one‑way attack unmanned aircraft systems (OWA UAS), designed to improve accuracy. Solutions must be resilient to countermeasures such as visible and infra-red decoys and directed energy attack.

Solutions should be capable of:

• having the ability to find a target within a wide search area (i.e. finding a known target whilst allowing for up to 200m navigation error in any direction)
• having the ability to find a target from a UAS altitude of 50-500m
• having the ability to continue operating whilst the host UAS makes reasonable manoeuvres in pitch, roll and yaw to navigate and seek towards a target
• identifying, locating and directing a UAS to impact a variety of static targets using top‑down imagery (i.e. satellite photography) or pre-designated signature (i.e. “a specified model of main battle tank”). This will include buildings, vehicles and ground-dumped military stores where the geographic location is known and not expected to move
• identifying, locating and directing a UAS to impact a variety of target types using top‑down imagery (i.e. satellite photography) or pre-designated signature (i.e. “a specified model of main battle tank”) which may have moved to an unknown position within a designated target area. This will include vehicles and ground-dumped military stores where the rough location is known, but the target may have moved within a designated allowable targeting area
• striking the target at a specified angle and a predetermined point of impact.
• operating by day and by night and as a stretch goal, operating in all weather conditions to include heavy precipitation or fog
• operating without input from a GNSS positioning system or external off-platform control or assistance

Solutions are to be demonstrated to at least TRL 6 and should be assessed against the innovator’s own target library. The target library does not need to contain representative military targets, so long as it can be shown that retraining to these would be practicable. The final report must:

• describe how the target library was generated
• provide a full copy of the library, code base and associated documentation for review
• include the library format so that the Authority can insert its own library as required
• include an Interface Control Document (ICD) which describes how the seeker would integrate with a representative OWA UAS as part of the deliverables

The proposal must include indicative costs for 1, 10, 100 and 500 units per month.

5.3 Challenge 3: UAS Survivability

We are seeking passive survivability solutions to improve the resilience of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or guided missiles against detection, targeting, and engagement. Solutions may include, but are not limited to:

• low‑cost radar‑absorbent materials
• multi‑spectral decoys, including thermal, radar, or electronic‑emission signatures

Approaches should be configurable to suit a range of platforms, speeds, and operating environments.

Solutions should demonstrate practical integration potential, including considerations such as weight, bonding to platform materials, and signature‑reduction effectiveness.

Demonstration requirements will be agreed with the Authority and may include comparative signature testing or controlled evaluation environments.

5.4 Challenge 4: UAS Navigation

We are seeking autonomous navigation systems for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that do not require the use of GNSS or proprietary Low Earth Orbit satellite services. Solutions must be capable of operating in a completely GNSS‑denied environment and determining their own position without manual input, achieving:

• minimum positional accuracy: 50 metres
• objective positional accuracy: 5 metres

Systems will be evaluated against the cost and capability of current navigation solutions.

Solutions must:

• interface with industry‑standard interfaces (i.e. MAVLINK, UAVCAN, NMEA)
• demonstrate operation over land, or a combination of land and water, with a stretch objective of open‑water operation
• operate day and night, in a wide range of weather conditions

The proposal must include indicative costs for 10, 100 and 500 units per month.

5.5 Challenge 5: Telemetry Data

Telemetry data enables assessment of whether a UAS has successfully completed its mission or supports diagnosis of reasons for failure. Adversaries will attempt to block or intercept such data through jamming or other means. We are seeking low‑probability‑of‑detection / interception jam‑resistant means to obtain low-bandwidth telemetry data.

Solutions must be capable of transmitting data from UAS operating as low as 50 metres above ground level back to a ground station at a fixed friendly location.  A useful range for returning telemetry data would be at least 300 km.

We are not interested in solutions that depend on a daisy chain re-broadcasting technique via other air vehicles or that rely on existing satellite communication provision (commercial or military).

5.6 Challenge 6: Maritime Autonomous Navigation

We are seeking maritime autonomous navigation solutions for unmanned surface vessels (USV), indicative size 5-15 m in length, at speeds of up to 60 kts, that can operate:

• day and night
• in all weather conditions, minimum Sea State 3
• for a transit duration of up to 48 hours
• over a distance of 1000 nautical miles

Solutions must provide position and timing and an autonomy stack navigation function to integrate with an existing vessel control system. Solutions must not rely on GNSS or the use of proprietary Low Earth Orbit satellites.

It is a requirement that solutions could be fitted and adapted to a range of different platforms.  We are not seeking platforms themselves. 

The demonstration is to be conducted on a representative platform, provided by the supplier solely for the purpose of the demonstration.  Characteristics of the demonstration platform are to be agreed with the Authority.

We expect that the total cost of a platform in which this system would be utilised will not exceed £300,000. Any selected autonomous navigation solution is not expected to form a dominant element of that cost.  Proposals should include some indication of a potential future cost model to support viability assessment. 

5.7 Challenge 7: Maritime Terminal Guidance

Terminal guidance refers to the final phase of a guided munition’s engagement, ending upon impact with the target. We are seeking automated maritime terminal guidance solutions suitable for unmanned surface vessels (USVs) that make use of existing onboard hardware, such as:

• forward looking infrared (FLIR) cameras
• daylight Electro-Optic cameras
• x‑band radar
• other commonly integrated maritime sensors

Solutions may utilise other optical systems or sensors and should not assume a single mandated hardware configuration.

Solutions will be required to:

• complete the final 2 nautical miles of mission guidance in significantly degraded and denied GNSS conditions
• operate day and night
• function in all weather conditions, minimum Sea State 3
• engage a range of target types, including fixed infrastructure or other vessels

For a TRL 6 demonstration, solutions should be assessed against the innovator’s own target library. The final report must:

• explain how the target library was generated

• provide a full copy of the library, code base and associated documentation for review

• include the library format so that the Authority can insert its own library as required

• include an Interface Control Document (ICD) which describes how the guidance system would integrate with a representative vessel as part of the deliverables.

Solutions must be platform‑agnostic, but the demonstration must be conducted on a platform provided by the supplier. Note: we are not seeking platforms themselves.

We expect that the total cost of a platform in which this system would be utilised, will not exceed £300,000. Any selected terminal guidance solution is not expected to form a dominant element of that cost.  Proposals should include some indication of a potential future cost model to support viability assessment.

5.8 We are interested in…

We want novel ideas to benefit end-users working in UK defence and security. Your proposal should include evidence of:

• how competitive market-leading unit pricing and scalable manufacture is built into the proposal from the outset, clearly benchmarked against existing market solutions or closest substitute capabilities and how both the output and the manufacturing
• techniques can be demonstrated within the timeframe of the project
• innovative or a creative approach
• clear demonstration of how the proposed work applies to a defence and security context, and how it can be exploited in phases of development beyond this competition

5.9 We are not interested in…

We are not interested in proposals that:

• cannot achieve at least TRL 6 by the end of the project period
• have already been sold into the UK Defence Marketplace, unless adapted or repurposed in an innovative way and this is made clear in your proposal
• platforms themselves (e.g. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) or Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs)
• rely on rare or exclusive means of manufacture that would preclude deployment at an appropriate scale in an operational theatre within 12 months – the ability to exercise existing industry is likely to be important
• constitute consultancy, paper-based studies or literature reviews which just summarise the existing literature without any view of future innovation
• are an unsolicited resubmission of a previous DASA bid
• offer demonstrations of off-the-shelf products requiring no experimental development (unless applied in a novel way to the challenge)
• offer no real long-term prospect of integration into defence and security capabilities
• offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions in price, while maintaining enough performance to be relevant

6. Critical elements to include

When writing your proposal, ensure you have comprehensively covered the following elements:

• focus on the Competition requirements to deliver at least TRL 6 demonstration at the end of the project
• the proposal should demonstrate how it can be scaled to deliver at an appropriate scale in an operational theatre within 12 months. Measurable information on planned quantities, costs and timescales should be utilised to demonstrate scalability
• all proposed milestones for delivery of your proposal must be costed, with a clear breakdown of allocated costs
• your proposal must demonstrate how you will complete all activities/services and provide all deliverables within the competition timescales. Proposals with any deliverables (including final report) outside the competition timeline will be rejected as non-compliant
• include a list of other government funding you have received in this area. Making it clear how this proposal differs from that work
• include a detailed project plan with clear milestones and deliverables. Deliverables need to be well defined and designed to provide evidence of progress against the project plan. Your deliverables must include a written final report and an in person demonstration
• plan (and cost) for attendance at the following meetings, which will all be in the UK

    - a kick-off meeting at the start of the project

    - fortnightly reviews with the appointed Technical Partner and Project Manager

    - a close down meeting at the end of the project

These activities may take place virtually. Slides presented at these meetings should be appropriately marked and made available.

• plan (and cost) for attendance at an end of project in person demonstration
• you will be required to conduct demonstrations in the UK for the MOD customer. Except for those UAS related challenges where explicitly stated otherwise. The innovator must independently organise the demonstration at a suitable location for the project. Demonstration costs must be included within the proposal and funded through the project budget. MOD estate will not be provided for demonstrations. The customer, Technical Partner, and other interested stakeholders will travel to the demonstration location within the UK

The demonstration is for the customer only. Any additional observers must be approved by the customer in advance of the demonstration date.

• identified any ethical / legal / regulatory factors. Associated risks should have been added to the Risk Register in Step 5 of the submission service along with details of how they will be managed, including break points in the project if approvals are not received
• included any requirements for access to Government Furnished X (GFX). GFX is the preferred nondescript term for anything that the Government provides in which the ‘X’ could be artefacts such as information or equipment. UKDI cannot guarantee that GFX will be made available. You should have included an alternative plan in your proposal in case it is not available.

7. Accelerating and exploiting your innovation

Ensure your deliverables are designed with the aim of making it as easy as possible for assessors to recognise expected development in technology maturity of the potential solution over the lifetime of the project. Specifically, how this demonstrates improved capability against the current known (or presumed) solutions.

Over the lifetime of UKDI awarded projects, ideas may mature and accelerate under the guidance of appropriate stakeholders, toward being functional capabilities. How long this takes, and how far towards a deployable capability the innovations progress, will depend on any future exploitation after the completion of the UKDI project.

7.1 Exploitation beyond your project plan

Include the following information within the Desirability question within the UKDI Online Submission Service application form to help the assessors understand your exploitation intentions:

• expected additional work required beyond the end of the contract to develop an operationally deployable commercial product (for example, “scaling up” for manufacture, cyber security, integration with existing technologies, environmental operating conditions)
• additional future applications and wider markets for exploitation
• wider collaborations and networks you have already developed or any additional relationships you see as a requirement to support exploitation
• how your product could be tested in a representative environment in later phases
• any specific legal, ethical, commercial or regulatory considerations for exploitation

8. Pre-sift Criteria

Before your proposal is assessed, all proposals will be checked for compliance with the UKDI pre-sift criteria.  Proposals will be rejected before full assessment if they do not comply.

For more information on how your proposal will be assessed please read Assessment process and criteria.

Innovation Support to Operations pre-sift criteria is as follows:

Criteria	Measure - Within scope (Pass) / Out of scope (Fail)
The proposal outlines how it meets the scope of the competition	Pass / Fail
The proposal explains how it meets the UKDI criteria Desirability, Feasibility, Viability in the relevant questions in Step 3 of the submission service	Pass / Fail
The proposal must contain a financial plan, a project plan and a resourcing plan which demonstrate how the work proposed will be completed	Pass / Fail
The delivery schedule within your proposal includes evidence of a written final report	Pass / Fail
We are expecting proposals to cost no more than £350,000. Your proposal must not exceed £1,000,000 (excluding VAT)	Pass / Fail
The final deliverable month indicated must be less than or equal to 6 months from the project start date agreed by both parties	Pass / Fail
The proposal output is at least TRL 6	Pass / Fail
Your proposal must detail any overseas supply chain dependencies and the risk if disrupted which would impact the ability to deliver your proposed solution at scale, and if appropriate how these dependencies could be mitigated	Pass / Fail
All innovators must ensure that they can obtain, if required, the necessary export licences for their proposals and developments, such that they can deliver to at least TRL 6 demonstration timelines and be supplied to the UK and other countries	Pass / Fail
To be eligible to submit a proposal into this competition you must be a UK registered business listed at Companies House. You must be based in the UK and intending to carry out project development activity within the UK. There is no requirement for the business to be UK‑owned	Pass / Fail
The proposal includes indicative costs for the quantities detailed in challenges 1, 2 and 4	Pass / Fail
The proposal does not require MODREC, due to the extended timelines to achieve MODREC	Pass / Fail
The proposal does not contain attachments that have been used for additional text data over the stated word counts in Desirability, Feasibility, Viability and Additional Information	Pass / Fail
Is a resubmission of a previous proposal adheres to the resubmission guidelines	Pass / Fail

9. How your proposal will be assessed

Proposals that are compliant will be assessed against the standard UKDI assessment criteria (Desirability, Feasibility and Viability) by subject matter experts from the MOD (including Dstl), PAG and the front-line military commands. You will not have the opportunity to view or comment on assessors’ recommendations.

UKDI reserves the right to disclose on a confidential basis any information it receives from innovators during the procurement process, which includes the full proposal, to any third party engaged by UKDI for the specific purpose of evaluating or assisting UKDI in the evaluation of your proposal. In providing such information you consent to such disclosure. Appropriate confidentiality agreements will be put in place.

After assessment, proposals will be discussed at a Decision Conference where funding decisions are made based on the assessments, budget and wider strategic considerations.

Innovators are not permitted to attend the Decision Conference.

10. UKDI Terms and Conditions

Please read the UKDI Terms and Conditions which contain important information for innovators. For this competition we will be using the Innovation Standard Contract (ISC) Terms and Conditions. Information on the relevant DEFCONs can be found by registering on the Knowledge in Defence site.

We require unqualified acceptance of the Terms and Conditions. Where innovator organisations have a commercial department, they will need to provide acceptance.

We will use deliverables from UKDI contracts in accordance with our rights detailed in the contract Terms and Conditions. This includes sharing deliverables with international partners under a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU).

10.1 Feedback

Proposals that are not successful will receive concise feedback, provided as bullet points and a short written summary, following the Decision Conference.

Where a proposal meets the fundable requirements for a competition, but is not funded, UKDI will continue to seek funding and shall consider your proposal fundable for 12 months from the date of the feedback release.

We will share the abstract, Proposal Value Proposition Statement (PVPS) and title of your proposal with partners across His Majesty’s Government that may express an interest in funding the proposal through UKDI, in accordance with the competition document. We may also share this information on our cross-government Ideas Marketplace platform to foster collaboration and attempt to elicit funding. If partners across His Majesty’s Government wish to read the full proposal to decide if they will fund it, we will share the full proposal with them without seeking your permission if it is within 60 days of the feedback release date. If it is over 60 days since the feedback release date we will seek your permission before sharing the full proposal with them.

For other potential funders, we will seek your permission before sharing the full proposal regardless of the number of days since the feedback release date.

In the event that funding becomes available, UKDI may ask whether you would still be prepared to undertake the work outlined in your proposal under the same terms. Your official UKDI feedback will indicate if your proposal was deemed fundable but not awarded funding at the time.

11. If your proposal is recommended for funding

Funding is subject to contract.

Once a proposal is identified as fundable, but prior to the allocation of funding a copy of the proposal will be provided to the MOD sponsor.

Each funded project will be assigned a Project Manager for oversight and a Technical Partner to provide technical guidance. Where appropriate, the UKDI team may also support innovators with delivery, exploitation, end user engagement and wider business development.

11.1 Cyber Security Model

The Cyber Security Model (CSM) is how Defence builds cyber security into its supply chain.

On receipt of a FUND decision, successful innovators (and their sub-contractors) must prove cyber resilience before the contract is awarded. The start of this process is the submission of a Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ allows innovators to demonstrate compliance with the specified risk level and the corresponding profile in Def Stan 05-138, and the level of control required will depend on this risk level.

To expedite the contracting time of successful innovators we ask all innovators to complete the SAQ before they submit their proposal (this is not mandated). The SAQ must be completed using the Risk Assessment number RAR-REUZYEQ.

The SAQ will be automatically scored against the Cyber Risk Profile (CRP) and you will be immediately informed of the outcome, compliant or not compliant.

If non-compliant, you will be required to complete a Cyber Improvement Plan (CIP) before the contract is placed which will need to be reviewed and agreed with the relevant project manager. The CIP template can be found here.

Before you start your SAQ you will need:

• the Risk Assessment Reference (RAR) RAR-REUZYEQ.
• a D-U-N-S number (a unique identifier for your organisation)
• a GOV.UK One Login

11.2 Export control for overseas partners

All relevant export control regulations will apply if a company ultimately wants to sell a developed solution to a foreign entity. All innovators must ensure that they can obtain, if required, the necessary export licences for their proposals and developments, such that they can be supplied to the UK and other countries. If you cannot confirm that you can gain the requisite licences, your proposal will be sifted out of the competition.

Additionally, if we believe that you will not be able to obtain export clearance, additional checks may be conducted, which may also result in your proposal being sifted out of the competition.

12. Points of Contact

During the competition phase all correspondence must be via the UKDI Points of Contact detailed below.

While all reasonable efforts will be made to answer queries, UKDI reserves the right to impose management controls if volumes of queries restrict fair access of information to all potential innovators.

12.1 Innovation Partner

UKDI has a team of locally based Innovation Partners that can provide support in working with UKDI. It is strongly recommended that you contact your local Innovation Partner to discuss your idea for any aspect of this competition.

You can initiate this through the submission of a Contact UKDI Form by following instructions on the Contact a UKDI Innovation Partner page if you do not already have an established relationship with your local Innovation Partner.

12.2 UKDI Help Centre

Competition queries including on process, application, commercial, technical and intellectual property aspects should be sent to the UKDI Help Centre at accelerator@dstl.gov.uk, quoting the competition title. UKDI cannot guarantee a response to a query received 3 weeks before the competitions closes.