Back in May of 2026 the MoD awarded contracts worth up to £4 million each to thirteen British technology companies. This was part of a drive to identify and nurture the UK’s next “defence unicorns”, startups capable of scaling into major defence primes at speed. The awards were made through Commercial X, an accelerated contracting mechanism designed to move innovators from pitch to contract in weeks rather than years.
What is Commercial X?
Commercial X is the MoD’s fast-track procurement vehicle, designed to bypass the notoriously lengthy traditional acquisition process and get innovative technology into the hands of the armed forces rapidly. It combines a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch format with streamlined contracting, sitting within the broader UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) framework. If you visit the gov.uk page linked above it claims to have (as of December 2025) ‘delivered 580 contracts with an average time to contract of 31 days’.
An upcoming report by the national security think tank The Henry Jackson Society entitled Procurement in the 21st Century: Defence acquisition, industrial mobilisation and the three clocks of future war Major (Ret.) Andrew Fox argues that the UK’s defence procurement system is too slow and outdated to keep pace with modern warfare. It identifies that Britain must build and replenish its stockpiles faster, upgrade equipment more quickly and strengthen its ability to produce essential defence supplies at home. It must also make better use of new technologies and ensure that the armed forces can adapt as threats evolve. Perhaps Commercial X is something of an admission by the MoD that things need to change.
The thirteen contracts, announced in May 2026, represent the latest cohort under a programme that has a stated ambition to increase MoD spending with small and medium-sized enterprises by 50 per cent by May 2028, an additional £2.5 billion flowing to British SMEs.
Over half of the winning companies have no prior experience of defence contracting, reflecting the MoD’s intent to draw in technology firms from adjacent sectors, particularly quantum, autonomous systems, space, and secure communications.
The 13 Companies
The winning firms span the country and a wide range of technologies including autonomy, medical systems, and specialist communications:
- Aquark Technologies (Hampshire) – compact quantum sensing and navigation systems
- Flowcopter (Edinburgh) – autonomous aerial vehicles for logistics and operations
- SimCentric Limited (Oxfordshire) – synthetic training environments
- Helyx Secure Information Systems (Buckinghamshire) – secure communications
- Aether Aerospace (Newport, Wales) and SpaceAM (London) – space manufacturing capabilities
- Avenue 3 (West Yorkshire) – complex engineering programme management
- Kraken Technology Group (Hampshire)
- The RC Den (London)
- Nereus Medical (Devon)
- EP90Group (Dorset)
- Ritson Reid (Berkshire),
- Spectra Group (UK) (Kingstone, Herefordshire )
All thirteen companies were founded after 2011; the majority within the last six years.
What the Companies Say
The reaction from recipients has been striking. Chris Isaac, CEO of SpaceAM, described the award as a “game changer,” noting that within five weeks of receiving the contract his company had hired six new staff, opened its first commercial labs, and attracted interest from top London venture capital firms.
Phil Bottomley, CEO of Avenue 3, was quoted as saying: “As an SME, this level of investment is transformative. It allows us to grow sustainably, create high-value jobs, and continue delivering complex engineering programmes at pace.”
A Government Bet on British Tech
The then Defence Secretary John Healey used the announcement to draw a clear line between aspiration and action. “These are contracts, not words or promises,” he said. “These companies may be small, but they all have the potential to become billion-pound FTSE 100 firms.”
The initiative sits within a broader strategic bet by the government on homegrown defence technology. Since July 2024, 89 per cent of MoD contracts have been awarded to UK firms, according to ministerial figures confirmed in May 2026. The Commercial X programme is intended to build a pipeline of British companies capable of competing at scale – and, ultimately, reducing UK dependence on foreign primes for critical capabilities.
The next cohort of Commercial X applications is expected to open later in 2026. We’ll be talking to some of the companies already involved.
