The reorganisation follows the release of the Strategic Defence Review and comes amid ongoing procurement reforms. 

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has officially established UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) as part of efforts to streamline procurement and the delivery of innovative technologies.  

Defence Equipment and Support and the Defence and Security Accelerator have all become part of UKDI, an MoD press release announced on 1 July. 

Future Capability Innovation and the frontline command innovation hubs will also sit under the organisation. 

The creation of UKDI was first announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, in her Spring Statement. 

UKDI will have an annual budget of GBP400 million and will use “different ways of contracting, to enable UK companies to scale up innovative prototypes rapidly”, according to the MoD.  

Its first two initial tasks include the creation of a new Rapid Innovation Team and Regional Engagement Teams. 

The Rapid Innovation Team will enable “innovation at a ‘wartime pace’ by utilising commercially available dual-use technology”, the MoD states.  

Meanwhile, the Regional Engagement Teams will be tasked with undertaking more targeted outreach and business development support, particularly benefiting smaller firms and spinouts from universities. 

UKDI will undergo a year of change as it seeks to implement these components, aiming to be fully operational by July 2026. 

“Defence is only as strong as the industry that stands behind it and through UKDI we’re putting innovation at the heart of our approach”, Secretary of State for Defence, John Healey, said. 

Healey underscored the UK Government’s commitment to its ‘plan for change’ agenda and to implementing the recommendations set out in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR). 

The plan for change agenda was a key part of the Labour party’s 2024 manifesto, which set out the need for the SDR, and support for the UK’s “hollowed out” forces. 

Aside from UKDI, UK Strategic Command has been renamed the ‘Cyber & Specialist Operations Command’ to reflect the shift to a more cyber-dominant world. This change comes as the MoD has had to protect its military networks from 90,000 sub-threshold attacks in the past two years.  

The name change “reflects our leadership in the cyber domain, the integration of specialist capabilities, and our commitment to delivering effects across defence”, General Sir Jim Hockenhull, commander of the organisation, explained.  

Hockenhull went further, speaking to the skills and direction of his organisation: “this new identity captures the essence of who we are: a community of experts, united by mission, operating at the forefront of modern warfare”.  

DSEI Gateway News is part of DSEI UK and the broader Clarion Defence portfolio. 
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