In an effort to put the UK at the “vanguard of defense technology”, the Ministry of Defense has unveiled the £16 million Defense Technology Exploitation Program (DTEP). This scheme aims to boost defense innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using government support and the resources of major suppliers. According to a statement from the Ministry of Defence, “the aim is to keep the UK at the forefront of defense technology, improve the capabilities available to our armed forces, the competitiveness of UK industry and growing potential export benefits.”
The program offers individual grants of up to 50 per cent of a project’s value, with a maximum of £500,000 per grant.
These packages will be available through DTEP to “facilitate collaboration projects between SMEs and larger suppliers, supporting the integration of new technologies, materials and processes into MOD’s supply chains.”
Interested parties can apply to the program by submitting their proposals throughout the year, with the cycles closing every three months for submissions review.
Defense Secretary Jeremy Quin said: “Innovation within defense is critical to maintaining a competitive advantage for our armed forces.
“The Defense Technology Exploitation Program is a positive step in how we support SMEs and larger suppliers to work together to improve the resilience and competitiveness of the MDG supply chain.”
This launch also builds on the successful BEIS-funded National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Program (NATEP) and a DTEP pilot conducted with Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI).
An example highlighted by Defense is CCP Gransden, a company near Ballygowan, which is collaborating with Thales and Ulster University on a project.
Through this project, the company has been working to replace the metal bus of the Starstreak surface-to-air missile system with a composite version, reducing dependence on global supply chains for the more than 50 components currently needed.
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Head of Defense and Security Accelerator, Anita Friend said: “DTEP is designed to help SMEs join defense supply chains and provide an opportunity for SMEs and larger suppliers to come together to solve defense problems.
“For an SME, DTEP not only provides funding, but also the opportunity to bring new innovations to the UK defense supply chain and a way to develop and scale their business.
“DTEP is also beneficial for larger companies as it provides early access to new technologies or processes that could potentially help them commercialize.”
This program could also contribute to the UK’s ambitions to become a science superpower as more SMEs targeting the defense industry begin to grow with government support.
Last week, the government’s new national space champion, David Morris, said: express.co.uk that with support could launch the next major space company from the UK.
He said: “The top priority is trying to get the SMEs that are in the supply chain to the government.
“There are literally thousands of SMBs contributing to these larger aerospace and defense companies that need help with financing.
“They need to gain recognition through contract purchases with the government and basically bring them together, which is what the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Space was always meant to do.”