Emerging and disruptive defence technologies

Emerging and disruptive technologies, such as cyber, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, are changing the way the world operates. Militarily such technologies present both opportunities and challenges. They allow militaries to become more effective and more resilient, but they are also changing the nature of warfare.

Embracing emerging technologies is a priority

In September 2020 the MOD launched its Integrated Operating Concept, (IOC) a new strategic vision for defence which recognises that the world has entered an “era of persistent competition” and that the character of warfare has changed.

The overriding messages of the IOC, namely multi-domain integration and persistent engagement, subsequently underpin the thinking behind, and the conclusions of, the Integrated Review and the Defence Command Paper, published in March 2021, and their subsequent refresh in 2023.

As part of this new approach, embracing new and emerging technologies is seen as a priority. The MOD intends to invest £6.6 billion to 2025 in defence research and development with specific focus given to emerging technologies in artificial intelligence, AI-enabled autonomous systems, cyber, space, directed energy weapons, hypersonics and quantum computing. Higher risk research and innovation is recognised as essential for modernisation.

The 2021 Integrated Review and the Defence Command Paper acknowledged, however, that embracing new “sunrise” technologies should not come entirely at the expense of more traditional warfighting capabilities. The 2023 refresh endorsed an approach which puts science and technology at the heart of MOD’s force design and capability development.

The 2023 Defence Command Paper also confirmed the intention to invest “significantly more” than the £6.6 billion already identified for advanced defence R&D in the 2021 Integrated Review, although did not provide more detail.

Among other proposals:

• A new National Cyber Force has been established and the Government is committed to being a global leader in cyber.
• Artificial intelligence is a key enabler of military capability, across the whole of defence. AI has been incorporated into several key programmes, including the Future Combat Air System, and is the focus of several innovative funding programmes through the Defence and Security Accelerator. An AI defence strategy was published in 2022 and a new Centre for Artificial Intelligence has been established. In February 2023 the UK endorsed the Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy (PDF).
• In addition to the £5 billion already being invested in the new Skynet 6 satellite communications project, over the next decade, the MOD will invest £1.5 billion in space-related capabilities. A new Joint Space Command achieved initial operating capability in April 2022 and work is underway to establish a new National Space Operations Centre and a new Space Academy. In September 2021, an integrated space strategy was published, which brings military and civilian space policy together for the first time. How the MOD intends to meet its ambitions in space was subsequently set out in the Defence Space Strategy (PDF), published in February 2022.
• Hypersonic and counter-hypersonic capabilities are one of the MOD’s priority areas for research and funding. The approach so far has been to work in collaboration with both international partners, and with industry and academia. In July 2023 the MOD announced its intention to speed up the acquisition of a hypersonic strike capability.
• The MOD is a key partner in the National Quantum Technology Programme (NQTP) and is funding several DSTL programmes including Future Sensing which will see £30 million invested over four years. Prototypes are currently being trialled on MOD platforms.

Synergies across government, industry and academia and collaboration with international partners

Emerging technologies are not just the purview of defence. They are dual-use by nature and present both opportunities and challenges across the whole of society.

While the MOD is considered an “early adopter” of such technologies and a key partner in the funding of innovation, it is widely acknowledged that there is a need for “genuine collaboration” across Government, industry, academia and in collaboration with international allies and partners.

Defence’s approach to these technologies is therefore closely tied to the delivery of broader government ambition.

This is an update to a briefing that was first published in March 2021.