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UK Ministry of Defence

The Ministry of Defence headquarters in Whitehall, on Taskforce RAID funding for UK military AI

UK Funds Taskforce RAID With £100 Million To Fast-Track AI Into The Military

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Taskforce RAID has four problems to work on, from sorting intelligence to controlling uncrewed vehicles, and the Ministry has opened a channel for companies to offer solutions.

 

The UK’s Ministry of Defence put £100 million behind Taskforce RAID, the unit it set up in June to get AI tools to British forces faster than standard defense procurement allows. The figure appeared for the first time on a page the Ministry published on August 25. 

The money comes from the Defence Investment Plan, the Ministry’s spending plan for military equipment. When Taskforce RAID launched on June 10, the Ministry said the unit would answer directly to the head of the Armed Forces, named the Bristol engineering company Rowden as its first industry partner, and set out the problems it would work on. At the time, it did not provide a funding figure.

 

Taskforce RAID has four problems to solve

The original June announcement listed four key areas the task force addresses. The first is using AI to sort and analyze the intelligence the military collects. The second is combining information from separate sensors and sources so that commanders get one account of what is happening in an area rather than several partial ones. The third is using AI to draw up military plans faster and redraw them once an operation has started. The fourth is using AI to control uncrewed vehicles.

The Ministry originally published the same four on June 10 in a Defence-wide paper called Putting Artificial Intelligence at the Heart of UK Defence, where it described the fourth as “delivering operational impact through AI-enabled swarms.”

 

Companies can now offer technology solutions, and the Ministry says a submission is not a sale

The page opens a submission channel the Ministry calls the Industry Front Door, where a company can send in ideas, concepts and technologies. The Ministry then writes that the channel “is intended solely to support engagement, horizon scanning and the exchange of ideas” and “does not constitute a procurement process, competition, request for proposal, or commitment to future commercial activity.” The Ministry says it will run and announce any contract through its usual contracting process.

The Ministry adds that it will review every submission but expects to receive too many to reply to each one, and will make contact only where a submission lines up with work the taskforce is already doing.

 

The Ministry has not said what the £100 million buys first, what the taskforce has delivered since June, or when anything sent through the Industry Front Door might lead to a contract.

Digital Union Jack with soldier, jet and warship silhouettes in glowing data networks, UK military AI taskforce RAID launch

UK Launches Taskforce RAID To Speed AI Into Its Armed Forces

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The new unit reports directly to the Chief of the Defence Staff and is exempt from standard financial and procurement controls.

 

The UK Ministry of Defence launched the Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce, known as Taskforce RAID, on June 10. The unit’s job is to get AI tools into the hands of British soldiers, sailors and aircrew faster than standard defense procurement allows. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the launch during London Tech Week, alongside Defense Secretary John Healey.

 

First targets: intelligence and planning

The taskforce will start with a short list of operational problems tackling two key areas: 

  1. AI that processes intelligence data fast enough to support live decisions.
  2. AI built into military planning, enabling commanders to produce and adapt battle plans at the speed modern operations demand.

The government also wants uncrewed systems, such as drones, to take on dangerous tasks in place of personnel.

 

Taskforce RAID can bypass standard controls

Taskforce RAID reports directly to the Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton. It can skip some of the standard spending approvals and procurement rules that normally govern defense purchases. The Ministry of Defence says internal policies and a new expert advisory group will provide oversight. It has not said which controls are waived or what limits remain.

The new AI Expert Advisory Group will comprise technical, ethical, and operational experts and will build on the ministry’s existing Ethics Advisory Panel.

 

A wider door for UK tech companies

The taskforce will work with British tech companies, including smaller ones, to lower the barrier to entry into defense contracting. The first named partner is Rowden, a Bristol engineering firm that builds sensing and information systems for the British Army and other government customers. The release notes that Rowden recently received £25 million from the National Wealth Fund, a government-owned investor. That investment was announced in May, weeks before the taskforce existed.

 

Defense-wide order to move faster

Healey issued a memo the same day directing every part of the Ministry of Defence to identify where AI can improve operational effectiveness and speed up decision-making. Both moves follow the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, which committed the UK to a shift toward AI and autonomy across its forces, including a protected Defence AI Investment Fund and a digital targeting web for the Army by 2027.