NOVEMBER 2026 · JOIN THE WHITE PAPER WAITLIST

Voices of UK Defence Tech: Inside the UK Procurement Gap

The UK has the capital and the mandate for defence tech. What it needs now is a reliable route from pilot to programme, so proven capability reaches the people who need it. This paper sets out what it will take, from the people living it right now.

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What's inside

Drawing on interviews with UK defence and dual-use scale-ups, plus contributions from investors, industry bodies, operators and primes;

it's constructive by design, credits what's already working, the risks worth taking, and turns friction into practical steps that founders, primes, the MoD and investors can each act on. Six themes, each ending with practical steps:

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From procurement gap to deployment gap

Where funded technology stalls between pilot and programme, and what would help unblock it.

Why pace matters

When risk isn't taken in development and finance, the front line carries it.

Building companies that can deliver

Boards, talent, and Secure by Design as an advantage.

What's already working

NSSIF, DIANA, BAE Systems Launchpad and Make UK Defence as models to build on.

Connecting both sides

How scale-ups and primes can find each other sooner, starting with a capability rather than a product.

Keeping scale in the UK

Capital, sovereign supply chains and the conditions that keep growing companies building here.

Who it’s for

Written for the people who move capability into service.

Founders & CEOs of UK defence and dual-use scale-ups moving from pilot to programme
Primes and buyers looking for a faster way to find and vet scale-ups
Investors, boards and banks backing companies through a long sales cycle

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

The deployment gap is the distance between a defence scale-up winning an innovation contract and its technology entering sustained service. Many UK companies are funded and pre-vetted, but few move from pilot to programme. Contributors to Voices of Defence Tech describe several "valleys of death" rather than one. They point to three things that would help: a clear demand signal, early funding to bridge the gap, and contracts linked to conditions being met.

The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) is the MoD and HM Treasury's delivery plan for the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, published on 30 June 2026. It sets out £298bn of planned MoD spending from 2026/27 to 2029/30, including £15bn of additional funding. £4.7bn of that is due to be confirmed at the Budget on 28 October 2026. Priorities include munitions, digital targeting, and drones and autonomous systems. (GOV.UK; Commons Library)

The Defence Industrial Strategy, published on 8 September 2025, commits the MoD to increasing its spending with SMEs by £2.5bn by May 2028. It also commits at least 10% of the annual equipment budget to novel technologies, and £400m to UK Defence Innovation. (GOV.UK, Defence Industrial Strategy 2025)

Scale-ups do best when they arrive with a capability rather than a product: the kit plus integration, training and support. Treat primes as integrators who need partners they can vet quickly. Contributors also suggest registering on the Defence Sourcing Portal, using cloud marketplaces as a buying route, and building a second market while defence buying cycles run their course.

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Voices of Defence Tech: Inside the UK Procurement Gap is a white paper by Think & Grow, built from around 16 interviews with UK defence and dual-use scale-ups and contributions from investors, industry bodies, operators and primes. Part One is published on 25 November 2026 with a launch panel in London. Waitlist members receive it 24 hours early. Part Two follows in 2027.

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