The UK Ministry of Defence has set itself an ambitious challenge with its recent Strategic Defence Review (SDR): modernise the MOD’s relationship with industry and improve the paths from technology concept to operational capability. Without this shift, too many promising technologies and ideas risk stalling in procurement bottlenecks, funding gaps, and the “valley of death” between prototype and deployment.
At PUBLIC, we’ve seen this challenge first-hand. Over the past five years, working with MOD teams, startups, and SMEs as part of our Percy Hobart Fellowship and Innovation in Defence learning programmes, we’ve reflected on what works and what doesn’t when bringing innovative capabilities and technology through the system at speed.
In this article, we share five shifts that will be critical to turn the Strategic Defence Review’s vision into reality, including practical changes on adoption timelines, empowering frontline personnel, and communicating with industry.
Leading this transformation at MOD are the new National Armaments Director (NAD) and the UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), tasked with building faster, more responsive pathways to bring cutting-edge technologies from concept to operational use. Their success will depend on creating predictable, transparent, and well-supported routes for companies of all sizes to engage with Defence and delivery capability at pace.
We know these routes have room for improvement, and the SDR is seeking to tackle exactly that. In our work with MOD, startups, and SMEs, we’ve seen blockers that slow the process from an idea to frontline capability: fragmented funding, pilots that struggle to scale beyond prototypes, information silos between teams, and procurement cycles that don’t match startup timelines. These don’t just frustrate frontline personnel and industry – they cost time, capability, and ultimately operational advantage.
That’s why the changes signalled in the Strategic Defence Review matter. By modernising how it partners with industry, the MOD can better unlock new sources of funding, partnerships, and expertise that it seeks to achieve with the Strategic Defence Review. But the real test is: how does make it happen in practice -and at speed?
As part of our Strategic Innovation Programme, we convened senior leaders across MOD, procurement and innovation experts, and four cutting-edge Defence companies (Saronic, Force Development Services, Quickblock, & Advai). We’ve distilled five shifts that will be critical to turning this intent into reality.
Too many promising SMEs and technologies show early promise through UK Defence innovation hub calls, generate demand signals from users, and yet die in the ‘valley of death’ between front door enthusiasm and frontline adoption. The SDR explicitly acknowledges this gap, and addressing it will require more deliberate pull-through pipelines.
In practice, this could look like:
Startups can adapt fast, but they need clarity to commit. Tools like the new Procurement Act’s Competitive Flexible Procedure (see our recent Guide here) offer a great start, but only if used effectively and paired with clear, consistent signals about MOD priorities, funding timelines, and routes to market.
In practice, this could look like:
Innovation succeeds when driven by those closest to the problem. In Defence, that means putting frontline personnel at the heart of the process, from shaping problem statements to testing and scaling solutions. This can directly influence what gets scaled with success.
In practice, this could look like:
For industry to align its innovation efforts with Defence needs, it must have a clear and consistent picture of what those needs are. Without that, companies risk building solutions that miss the mark, while MOD risks overlooking technologies that could be critical. Deliberate and ongoing market signalling can ensure suppliers and investors have the clarity they need to prioritise their R&D and resources in line with Defence’s most urgent gaps.
In practice, this could look like:
The work of UKDI, NAD, and others rightly focuses on how Defence procures and integrates technology. This is a vital part of the puzzle, but it’s only one half. One of the clearest themes to emerge during our Strategic Innovation Programme was the need to modernise internal ways of working — including culture, capabilities, and leadership.
In practice, this could look like:
The SDR commitments to reform align directly with these observations. As importantly, they come at a time of momentum across industry and private investors, who increasingly see defence as an area of focus.
As an organisation, PUBLIC is confident that the UK and its allies can take advantage of this momentum. Our Percy Hobart and Innovation in Defence participants have demonstrated a commitment to closing these exact gaps that slow the journey from concept to capability – gaps that aren’t just technical, but also cultural, procedural, and about how Defence connects with industry.
By continuing to invest in people, partnerships, and practical mechanisms for innovation, UK Defence can turn this moment into lasting operational capability.
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