Fast-paced funding for force-protection innovation

The Competition deadline has been extended to midday 30 September 2026 (BST) due to an update to the Competition Key Requirements table.

Applicants are advised to review the revised Competition Key Requirements table again before submitting.

The competition team will contact anyone who has already submitted a proposal, or who has a proposal in draft, to advise on next steps.

UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) is pleased to launch a new Themed Competition called Project PANOPTES. Run on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) this Themed Competition seeks an integrated, Counter-Uncrewed Aerial System (C-UAS) force-protection capability.

This competition will use a 2-stage submission process with the aim to ease the burden on both applicants and assessors. Stage 1 provides an initial innovation screening process where applicants outline their idea. Stage 2 then requests detailed proposals on successful ideas by invite.

Defence is seeking innovations 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 relevant for deployed land forces but is also applicable to the protection of defence fixed infrastructure.

Existing approaches are constrained by current capability, high costs, limited manoeuvrability and the pace of evolving UAS. To ensure the UK maintains a battle-winning edge, UKDI is seeking ideas that can solve these problem areas.