IN Brief:
- BlackTree Technologies will supply AI-capable radios, headsets, and display tablets under DDS.
- Deliveries begin in September, with full roll-out planned by 2027, the MoD said.
- DDS builds on Project ASGARD trials in Estonia, and is designed to compress the sensor-to-shooter timeline at company level and below.
The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract worth up to £86 million to BlackTree Technologies for a new tranche of dismounted tactical equipment intended to link soldiers more tightly into battlefield networks and shorten decision cycles under pressure.
The MoD said the procurement, delivered as the Dismounted Data System (DDS), covers thousands of radios, headsets, display tablets, cables, batteries, pouches, and antennas, with the objective of reducing the time it takes for frontline troops to receive reconnaissance and intelligence data. The department said the systems are “AI capable,” and are intended to improve clarity around friendly and adversary positions, reduce friendly fire incidents, and support faster battlefield decision-making.
According to the MoD, the equipment will connect soldiers to the same network and be tailored by scenario, allowing troops to receive voice data, visual data, or a combination, depending on operational need. The department said the new systems have already been tested by British soldiers on deployment in Estonia, where the visual information element was reported to reduce distraction in loud battlefield environments.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard MP said: “The ability to receive, share and deploy accurate information is crucial to battlefield advantage, and this state-of-the-art technology will make our soldiers more integrated and more lethal.” The MoD said roll-out begins this year, with delivery in multiple tranches from September and a full equipment roll-out planned for completion in 2027.
Commercially, the MoD said the contract comprises an initial £46 million commitment with options for a further £40 million, and it sits inside a broader push to increase spending with UK small and medium-sized enterprises. The department said the award will create 12 new defence industry jobs in Tewkesbury, Hereford, and Birmingham.
DDS also links back to Project ASGARD, the Army’s accelerated effort to build a digital targeting web that connects sensors, decision-makers, and effectors at speed. In 2025, Defence Equipment & Support described DDS as a first major element delivered under Project ASGARD, trialled during NATO exercises in Estonia after contracts were awarded in early 2025 and a prototype capability deployed months later. That earlier work framed DDS as part of a wider “recce-strike” approach, intended to compress the time from detection to engagement.
BlackTree founder and managing director Neil Clements-Hill said: “From initial experimentation under the DSA programme, through the delivery of Project ASGARD in 2025, and now delivering Dismounted Data System capacity, we have been working closely with the Army for many years.”
The near-term value of DDS will be measured less by the novelty of tablets on webbing than by whether the system performs under contested conditions, stays usable at section and platoon level, and integrates cleanly with the wider mission support networks the Army is building. The MoD’s timeline, and the pace implied by prior ASGARD trials, suggest the Army is treating that integration problem as an engineering deliverable rather than a multi-year concept study.
