Notice

Project PANOPTES: Competition Document

Published 2 September 2026

1. Introduction

This UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) Procurement is run on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (Authority), using the Commercial X Dynamic Market, as a regulated procurement under the Procurement Act 2023.

This competition, seeking to deliver an integrated Counter-Uncrewed Aerial System (C-UAS) force-protection capability, capable of autonomous operation, forms the first phase of a planned multi-phase capability development and acquisition pathway leading to a future Programme of Record, subject to future approvals and contractual arrangements.  

The scope of Phase 1 is to identify and support organisations to accelerate development of their existing technology towards the final deployable system. It is not intended for the Phase 1 competition to seek delivery of a complete operational C-UAS system.

Over later Phases, the Authority’s intent, aligned with its Integrated Procurement Model, is to identify and rapidly mature promising technologies as demonstrable Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). The Authority may then, at its discretion, select projects to be iteratively developed, integrated and proven as Minimum Deployable Capabilities (MDCs) for an initial operational user group. Capabilities that demonstrate operational benefit may subsequently be developed further for wider adoption as part of a future Programme of Record. Suppliers will be notified of the criteria, selection processes, and competition format as these Phases arise.

2. Problem Statement

Defence seeks additional capability to detect, track, identify, decide and defeat mass and low-cost threats in a cost-effective manner and without being overwhelmed or exhausting stockpiles. This is particularly acute for deployed land forces, but the problem is applicable to the protection of defence fixed infrastructure.

Current approaches are constrained by limited magazine depth, high cost-per-engagement, limited manoeuvrability, workforce intensity and the difficulty of adapting capabilities at pace as UAS threats evolve.

Based on experience from its earlier Market Engagements and other research, the Authority is particularly interested in capabilities centred on Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) effectors but is open to submissions relating to credible alternative novel approaches.

3. Operational Context and Future Capability Requirements

To address the challenge described in the Introduction we are looking to deliver an integrated C-UAS force-protection capability, capable of autonomous operation, mounted on an Army vehicle. 

The capability should protect deployed troops against complex and saturation attacks designed to overwhelm existing defences or deplete conventional munition stocks. It should deliver more affordable combat mass against emerging air threats than legacy systems, and should exploit open architectures, platform-generated power, modular design and autonomous operation.

The initial threat focus is representative Class 1 UAS and related small aerial threats, including single, repeated, sequential and simultaneous threat profiles. This includes threats intended to disrupt operations, conduct surveillance, target fixed or mobile assets, overwhelm local defences or force the disproportionate use of high-cost munitions.

Integration of the capability onto a future uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) is a planned objective.  The solution should provide a scalable pathway towards future Army and Joint Ground-Based Air Defence (GBAD) capabilities as well as considering possible export opportunities.

4. Competition Process

Selection for Phase 1 will comprise a two-stage down-selection process.

At Stage 1, suppliers will submit a brief technology review and outline proposal for a technology demonstration and development plan.

These outline proposals will be assessed under the criteria detailed below, and some suppliers will be invited to Stage 2.

At Stage 2 selected suppliers will be invited to submit a more detailed proposal for further evaluation and down-selection. 

The deliverable from Phase 1 of the competition is an evidence-based Programme Plan which includes appropriate demonstrations of components as required to provide that evidence.

The Authority encourages suppliers to see UKDI funding as a catalyst which, combined with their own investment, will enable the rapid development and selection of cutting-edge capabilities which can be accelerated into operations in under 2 years and contribute to a future Programme of Record, subject to future approvals and contractual arrangements.

Schematic of competition process

5. Competition Information

Your Stage 1 submission is to be submitted via the UKDI Online Submission Service where you will need to register for an account if you don’t already have one. Only proposals submitted through the UKDI Online Submission Service will be accepted.

Prior to submission of any proposal, a supplier must request to join the Commercial X Dynamic Market, as detailed below.

Suppliers are strongly advised to submit their proposal at least one hour before the specified deadline. Proposals submitted close to the deadline risk encountering issues that cannot be resolved in time.

Responsibility for timely submission rests entirely with the supplier, no extensions will be made. If you are having problems submitting your proposal, email us prior to the deadline on accelerator@dstl.gov.uk or call 01980 950000 option 3 Monday to Friday 0900-1200 only).

No funding is provided for bidding costs or proposal preparation.

• Submit a proposal

5.1 Dynamic Market Registration

Registration is simple. Firstly, you will need to ensure you have created a company profile on the Central Digital Platform or gov.uk One (Paste this URL into your browser - https://signin.account.gov.uk/sign-in-or-create) You may need to then click the ‘Go to GOV.UK One Login’ hyperlink

Your application to the Dynamic Market needs to be completed on the Defence Sourcing Portal

If you are not registered, click Supplier Registration and follow the instructions provided. Then, to join the Dynamic Market:

1. On the home page, click ‘view DSP opportunities’
2. make sure you’re in the ‘current opportunities tab’
3. click the ‘filters’ drop down and select ‘project info’
4. in the ‘value’ field type ‘Commercial X’ and click ‘search’

You should be able to access the ‘PQQ’ event that we are using for the applications. There is also downloadable content available in the opportunity listing providing further information about the Dynamic Market.

For any problems signing up to DSP or the Dynamic Marketplace, contact NAVY-CommX-DYNAMIC-MARKET@mod.gov.uk

5.2 Stage 1

Competition Key Information

Key Information	Market Assessment Details
Requirement	A completed high-level ‘white paper’-style outline programme plan to meet the challenges and requirements detailed below.
Submission Stage 1 deadline	12:00 Midday on 23 September 2026 (BST)
Submission Stage 1 Feedback	30 September 2026[footnote 1]

Key Capability Requirements

Desirable Capability Requirements

Capability Assessment

Suppliers are requested to provide a concise outline of intent showing a planned route towards meeting the Key Capability Requirements detailed above.

Stage 1 submissions must provide responses to questions addressing the following areas:

• A description of your starting technology position
• A description of what development work you would undertake during this project phase
• Rough Order of Magnitude costs (not binding) for the work required for the proposed Phase 1 project activity
• Very Rough Order of Magnitude costs (not binding) for implementation of the programme described in your deliverable under Phase 1 to achieve MVP
• Overview of the expected final programme, focusing on how you intend to deliver an integrated system and ability to scale up and put into production

As this competition is looking in the longer term to deliver capability it is important for us to understand your exploitation potential and intentions.

Include the following information within your proposal 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

The purpose of this activity is to:

• Assess the maturity and viability of existing technologies.
• Generate evidence through focused technical activities.
• Produce an evidence-based programme plan for delivery of a complete capability.
• Inform future follow-on activity, which, whilst subject to change, is a <6 month development piece, followed by development work.

Submissions will be reviewed with the following criteria:

Criteria	Measure - Within Interest (Pass) / Not of Interest (Fail)
Desirable and meets the scope of the competition	Pass / Fail
Feasible and addresses the Key Requirements	Pass / Fail
Viable and has high probability of successful delivery	Pass / Fail

The Authority reserves the right not to provide detailed feedback on submissions.  Should you receive feedback notifying you of a Pass in all three criteria, you are considered eligible for Stage 2. If you wish to appeal the results, you must do so within 5 days of receipt.

Specific Requirements

Please note that this competition has specific requirements as part of its pre-sift criteria.

• to be eligible to submit a proposal into this competition you must be a UK organisation registered at Companies House, a sole trader or academic institute, currently based in the UK, and plan to carry out the work in the UK. Your organisation does not need to be UK-owned
• Organisations are only permitted to submit one proposal into this competition; we ask potential bidders to self-prioritise their best offer
• Proposals should come without Trade Control Restrictions where possible.
• For Phase 1 you must not submit any information classified above Official Sensitive.

5.3 Stage 2

Competition Key Information

For Stage 2 eligible suppliers, you will develop your high-level Programme Plan into a detailed programme plan, with expected outcomes, milestones, and pricing.

The exact details of this Stage will be released once Stage 1 has been completed.

Key Information	Competition Details
Submission Stage 2 open	12:00 Midday 1 October (BST)
Submission Stage 2 deadline	12:00 Midday on 29 October 2026 (GMT)
Total funding available	A share of up to £5 million is available immediately, the Authority anticipates an award of multiple contracts, subject to availability and quality of the proposals.
Expected contract start	Aim to start November/December 2026. This is subject to change.
Project duration	Equal to or less than 6 months.
Feedback release date	18 November 2026

The dates above are subject to change

Eligibility for Stage 2 is not a guarantee that your proposal will be taken forward. A review process will take place to make a decision on fundings. The Authority does not commit to fund any one or number of projects as part of this Competition. Should no projects be considered suitable, no projects will be funded.

Stage 2 Submission

Your Stage 2 submission needs to be completed on the Defence Sourcing Portal

Instructions

1. On the home page, click ‘view DSP opportunities’
2. make sure you’re in the ‘current opportunities tab’
3. click the ‘filters’ drop down and select ‘project info’
4. in the ‘value’ field type ‘Commercial X’ and click ‘search’

You should be able to access the ‘PQQ’ event that we are using for the applications. There is also downloadable content available in the opportunity listing providing further information about the Dynamic Market.

At this point submissions may be made through the PANOPTES DSP Opportunity.

Only those submitted through the DSP will be accepted.  Suppliers who do not already have a DSP account will need to register for one prior to submission.

Suppliers are strongly advised to submit their proposal at least one hour before the specified deadline. Proposals submitted close to the deadline risk encountering issues that cannot be resolved in time. No late entries will be permitted.

No funding is provided for bidding costs or proposal preparation.

Any queries or concerns should be communicated through the Defence Sourcing Portal Messaging Service.

For any problems signing up to DSP or the Dynamic Marketplace, contact NAVY-CommX-DYNAMIC-MARKET@mod.gov.uk

Tender Submission Compliance for Stage 2

Before your Tender Submission for Stage 2 is assessed, all proposals will be checked for compliance with the criteria below.  Proposals will be considered non-compliant if they do not meet these criteria.

Project PANOPTES pre-sift criteria are as follows:

Criteria	Measure - Within scope (Pass) / Out of scope (Fail)
The supplier has passed Stage 1 and is eligible to enter Stage 2	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 and in person presentation	Pass / Fail
The proposal does not contain attachments that have been used for additional text data over the stated word counts	Pass / Fail

Stage 2 Evaluation

The Stage 2 proposal evaluation will be based on the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) against Technical, and Commercial Level 1 criteria, with the following weightings:

• Technical                   60 – 80%
• Commercial              20 – 40%

Under Section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023, the Authority has the right to refine these evaluation criteria, including their relative importance. The Authority will publish refinements to the criteria within the notice and associated tender documents.

Projects will be awarded based on score and budget availability within the £5m limit. Detailed instructions regarding the submission of tenders and evaluation of Stage 2 will be publicised prior to the commencement of Stage 2.

6. Public Facing Information

Stage 1

Information supplied in this stage will be retained in confidence within UK government for 12 months and then destroyed. No information from Stage 1 shall be shared with any third party.

Stage 2

Work will be undertaken to standard 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.

We will use deliverables from UKDI contracts in accordance with our rights detailed in the contract Terms and Conditions.

All proposals will be held in confidence for 12 months and then destroyed, unless agreed with the individual suppliers. Further details may be supplied to suppliers invited to Stage 2.

All Intellectual Property will remain the property of the Supplier.

7. Supporting Activities

7.1 Launch webinar

9 September 2026 – Launch webinar providing further detail on the operational context of the problem space and a chance to ask questions in an open forum. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page. Please ensure you have read this competition document fully before attending.

Questions can be submitted in advance using this Slido link

Cyber Security Model

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

Prior to any Project being funded, the supplier will need to undergo the Cyber Security Model Process to verify its adherence to cyber security requirements. Details will be provided as part of Stage 2.

8. Glossary of Terms in this Document

Term	Meaning
Phase 1	Activity required to obtain evidence to support preparation of Programme Plan
Stage 1	Submission of a brief technology review and outline proposal
Stage 2	Submission of a full proposal for a <6 month development project
Proposal	A full description of the Project, containing work packages, project planning, detailed financial breakdown etc. to deliver Phase 1
Programme Plan	Description of the work required to deliver a Minimum Viable Product meeting the Key Capability Requirements, leading to a Minimum Deployable Capability
Phase 2	Planned next phase of this competition, comprising activity required to deliver the Programme Plan
Programme of Record	A future development programme to deliver a future full capability

Points of Contact

During the competition phase technical queries should be raised through DSP Messaging Function NAVY-CommX-DYNAMIC-MARKET@mod.gov.uk

1. Subject to the number of proposals received. Should an unexpectedly large number of proposals be submitted the Authority may require more time to review; Suppliers will be notified of any delay. ↩