Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what changes his Department has made to defence procurement since 2024 to reduce barriers to entry for non‑traditional defence suppliers, including businesses specialising in software, artificial intelligence, and data analytics.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has taken significant strides in our approach to defence procurement since 2024, as laid out in both the Defence Industrial Strategy and in a recent Gov.UK notice titled “Ministry of Defence small and medium-sized enterprise engagement”.

The establishment of UK Defence Innovation in 2025, as well as the continued efforts of Commercial X including the new Defence Unicorn Fund from earlier this year, are helping our Armed Forces obtain innovative, ground-breaking technologies faster, speeding up procurement cycles, and simplifying terms & conditions where needed. This includes working with non-traditional players in areas such as software, AI, and data analytics.

Potential suppliers are also welcome to join the Defence Sourcing Portal, the Neutral Vendor Framework, the Dynamic Marketplace, and the Defence Innovation Marketplace, as appropriate, as a means to promote their services to the MOD.