IN Brief:
- UK Defence Innovation has opened a £2.8m competition expected to fund five to seven research projects.
- Nine challenges address infrared, optical, underwater, hyperspectral, and three-dimensional sensing technologies.
- UK-based applicants have until noon GMT on 9 December 2026 to submit initial proposals.
UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) has launched a £2.8m competition to develop electro-optic sensing technologies for military operations, seeking improvements in detection, imaging, and target recognition across land, maritime, air, and space environments.
The competition is being delivered on behalf of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) through its Electro Optic Sensing project. It offers up to £2.8m in funding, excluding VAT, with between five and seven proposals expected to receive support. Individual applications may seek up to £600,000, subject to the competition’s assessment and contracting requirements.
The programme targets technologies capable of improving sensing performance in contested and degraded environments. Military electro-optic equipment supports functions including threat warning, target detection, discrimination, and identification, but its effectiveness can be restricted by environmental conditions, sensor characteristics, and interference affecting the wider system. The competition identifies nine technical challenges rather than prescribing a single equipment design.
Infrared active imaging forms one of those areas. Optical systems operating outside the visible spectrum can provide information unavailable through conventional imaging, although their performance depends on illumination, atmospheric transmission, sensor design, and the characteristics of the observed object. The research programme seeks new approaches without specifying a mandatory sensor architecture or announcing the procurement of a finished military product.
Another challenge concerns the detection and characterisation of laser sources alongside technologies intended to counter electromagnetic jamming. Laser-source detection can support awareness of optical activity within an operating environment, while interference with electronic systems creates separate problems for the availability and reliability of sensing equipment. The programme combines these requirements within its published challenge areas, leaving applicants to determine the technical approaches they propose.
UKDI is also seeking more economical wide-area sensing suitable for day and night use in difficult environments. Extending observation over a larger area introduces requirements concerning field of view, spatial detail, processing capacity, and the amount of information collected. These characteristics must be balanced against the physical constraints of the intended platform and the conditions in which its sensors are expected to operate.
Detection and identification of dim or distant objects against complex backgrounds constitute another challenge. A target producing a weak signal may be difficult to distinguish from surrounding information, particularly when it occupies a small part of the sensor’s field of view. Improving performance can involve optical design, signal processing, and methods of separating relevant observations from background noise. The competition does not publish a common detection range or identification threshold for all applicants.
Underwater environmental sensing introduces a different set of limitations. Suspended particles and other characteristics of turbid water can restrict the transmission of light and complicate imaging. Proposed technologies must address the conditions relevant to underwater observation, where conventional optical methods may be less effective. The challenge is directed towards technical development rather than a confirmed order for naval sensing equipment.
Several challenges focus on extracting additional information from sensor data. Automatic Target Recognition using three-dimensional LiDAR measurements is one area, while machine learning applied to hyperspectral imagery is another. LiDAR can provide spatial measurements, and hyperspectral systems collect information across multiple spectral bands. Processing techniques may help identify patterns within those measurements, but performance depends on the quality of the underlying data and the conditions represented during system development and evaluation.
UKDI is separately seeking hyperspectral equipment with reduced size, weight, power consumption, and cost for tactical platforms. These constraints influence whether a sensor can be integrated into smaller aircraft, vehicles, and other military systems. Reducing physical and electrical demands must be balanced against the optical performance, processing capability, and environmental protection required by the intended application.
High-resolution imaging through aperture synthesis completes the nine challenge areas. Such approaches seek to develop imaging capabilities using information collected through an optical or sensing arrangement that can provide improved effective resolution. Practical implementation requires accurate acquisition and processing of the relevant measurements, with the engineering design depending on the specific method proposed.
The competition supports technologies progressing through Technology Readiness Levels 3 to 6. Applicants must demonstrate progress of at least one readiness level during the funded project, with work expected to produce evidence relevant to a technology’s development and demonstration. These requirements place the funding within research and capability maturation rather than immediate equipment acquisition.
Projects are expected to run for at least 12 months and less than 24 months, with the programme aiming for contract starts in May 2027. The development period must be sufficient to demonstrate the proposed technology in a relevant environment. Successful completion of a project would not, by itself, establish that the resulting equipment had achieved full operational qualification or been selected for military procurement.
Eligibility is restricted to businesses registered in the United Kingdom, sole traders, and UK academic institutions intending to undertake the work domestically. An eligible organisation does not have to be UK-owned. Applications must comply with the competition’s specific assessment requirements, with initial submissions made through the UKDI online service.
The competition uses a two-stage process. Stage 1 requires an outline concept and an initial technical plan, allowing the competition team to assess suitability before inviting selected applicants to prepare a detailed proposal. Stage 2 requires more extensive technical information, project planning, and a financial breakdown. Progression to the second stage is by invitation rather than an automatic entitlement following initial submission.
Stage 1 closes at noon GMT on 9 December 2026, with decisions scheduled for 16 December. The invitation-only second stage is expected to open on 6 January 2027, followed by a full submission deadline on 23 February and feedback on 30 April. Funding decisions and subsequent contracts will determine which technologies enter the programme during 2027.
No suppliers have yet been selected and the £2.8m allocation remains available competition funding rather than committed expenditure under awarded research contracts. The first confirmed milestone is the December application deadline, followed by the assessment of proposed technical solutions against the nine published sensing challenges.
