Advancing UK Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space Solutions Worldwide

Defence

Digitising Land ISTAR

A contract worth £6.7 million has been awarded to Roke, the delivery partner for ZODIAC, which will act as the central nervous system for Land ISTAR, as the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) embraces far-reaching benefits of digitisation for its Land ISTAR programme, to transform how the British Army operates, integrates and sustains a persistent and decisive global presence.

Above: (left to right) Paul MacGregor, Roke Managing Director and Brigadier John Collyer.
Courtesy Roke

It marks the start of an Alpha development phase to de-risk the delivery of the Land ISTAR programme. Land ISTAR will deliver an integrated and distributed system of sensors, applications and underlying system architecture that will enable the Army to act with greater precision and speed. Enhancing FIND to UNDERSTAND and FIND to EFFECT is critical to the generation of a competitive advantage in the modern operating environment across the continuum of competition.

Advertisement
ODU RT

As the core project for the Land ISTAR programme, ZODIAC must provide the systems required to ingest data from all battlefield sensors and CJIIM* intelligence feeds. It will need to fuse, analyse and distribute the resulting intelligence to battlefield users, integrating across Land, Sea, Air, Space and Cyber and with Allies.

During the Alpha phase of ZODIAC, Roke will be responsible for capturing requirements, initial design, solution architecture, risk reduction and market assessment for further development.

Paul MacGregor, Managing Director of Roke said: “Roke is proud to contribute to this important and bold transformation in support of the defence of our nation. ZODIAC will pioneer the use of next generation technologies, empowering and better protecting the British Army to think and act faster than our adversaries.

“Innovation will be the catalyst for everything we do. From harnessing our significant knowledge in physical sensors and communication systems to embedding new architectures and processing at the edge, drawing on the expertise of our Cubica colleagues who specialise in data fusion, machine learning and autonomy."

Roke will also work closely with a trusted consortia of industry partners to refine the model of ZODIAC development further, ensuring the customer takes advantage of world-beating technical capabilities on a continuous and enduring basis.

Advertisement
PTC rectangle

 
*CJIIM (Combined, Joint, Inter-Agency, Intra-Governmental and Multinational)
 

 

 

Advertisement
Gulfstream banner
ARTEC awarded £53m contract for British Army artillery weapon systems

Defence

ARTEC awarded £53m contract for British Army artillery weapon systems

13 March 2026

Increased lethality for the British Army has moved a step closer after a £53 million contract was awarded by OCCAR on behalf of the British Army to ARTEC GmbH for the long-lead production of 37 weapon systems for the Remote Controlled Howitzer (RCH) 155.

BAE Systems completes preliminary design review of USSF missile tracking system

Defence Space

BAE Systems completes preliminary design review of USSF missile tracking system

12 March 2026

BAE Systems has completed the Preliminary Design Review for the $1.2 billion US Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) Resilient Missile Warning & Tracking (RMWT) – Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Epoch 2 programme to provide missile warning and tracking of advanced missile threats.

Torus alliance launched

Defence Events

Torus alliance launched

12 March 2026

Amentum, GXO, Accenture and Maersk have entered into an alliance to support the next generation of supply chain solutions to the UK Defence Sector, called Torus Defence Supply Chain.

Rolls-Royce strengthens PGZ partnership

Defence

Rolls-Royce strengthens PGZ partnership

12 March 2026

Rolls-Royce and the Polish defence technology group Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A. (PGZ) intend to intensify their cooperation in the field of propulsion technologies for military vehicles.

Advertisement
PTC rectangle
UK-first achieved in advanced materials

Aerospace Defence Space

UK-first achieved in advanced materials

11 March 2026

The UK has established its first sovereign manufacturing capability for ultrahigh temperature materials - vital for space, hypersonic and propulsion systems.

Thales launches SkyDefender

Defence

Thales launches SkyDefender

11 March 2026

Thales has today announced the launch of SkyDefender, a system providing an integral air and missile defence dome with artificial intelligence.

Advertisement
ODU RT
Advertisement
Gulfstream banner