The Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor has been named as one of the key high-growth-potential frontier industry clusters in the UK Government’s Defence Industrial Strategy.
The strategy paper, released on 8 September, names Oxfordshire as the UK’s leading region for computing, data science, and space innovation. Anchored by the strategic RAF site of Brize Norton, the county hosts innovative companies with expertise in many strategic disciplines; from quantum, AI, nuclear and space to health and life sciences.
Helping to develop the region’s defence innovation and technology is the Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire & Chilterns Regional Defence & Security Cluster, a collaboration between industry, academia, STFC-UKRI, and local and combined authorities which includes technology growth hubs at Harwell and Culham in South Oxfordshire. Last week it reported that there was a great deal of interest in the region’s new technologies at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition. It also welcomed the announcement of a new Defence Office for Small Business Growth due to launch in January.
The cross-disciplinary reach of the region has many forms and in defence it is exemplified by Witney-based MGI Defence. Drawing on its experience in Formula 1, a field that Oxfordshire is renowned for, the firm designs and delivers autonomous platforms for land, air, and maritime operations. This summer it unveiled SkyShark, a next-generation military drone platform designed to transform battlefield operations with speed and precision. The drones’ microturbines were developed using additive manufacturing by Oxford-based microturbine and propulsion company Argive, which is owned by Alloyed.
Another company working at the cutting-edge of the convergence of AI and robotics in both commercial and defence capabilities is Oxford Dynamics, which aims to produce machines able to sense, learn, and act in complex environments. The company has integrated its AVIS AI platform’s intelligence into enhanced Observe, Orient, Decide, Act (OODA) cycles for military operations.
The Defence Industrial Strategy will provide £400 million to support defence innovation, with an increased spending target specifically for SMEs, and will aim to ‘turbocharge research, development and innovation in Defence.’
The new strategy is also, like many Oxfordshire organisations, outward-looking, and will set out to build new international partnerships and boost exports with enhanced financing and a new Office of Defence Exports. There is also a commitment to invest in skills and jobs.
Just this week (15 September), Takever, a leading European aerospace, defence, and security technology company, announced that it would be investing £400 million in UK facilities, creating 1,000 high-skilled jobs. It will be establishing its largest UK site, developing AI-centred surveillance system, in Swindon, near the border with Oxfordshire.
Promising to make defence an engine for growth in a new era of threat, Secretary of State for Defence John Healey said the strategy will: ‘…reform procurement, innovate at wartime pace, and grow our industrial base.’
Image provided by the Ministry of Defence