UK Government Commits Over £5 Billion to Drone Ecosystem Development

Published
Source
Dronelife.com
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RobotToday Industry Briefing RobotToday Industry Briefing graphic: a blueprint-style humanoid robot outline with annotations for perception, actuation and mobility, next to the Industry Briefing wordmark. 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RobotToday Industry Briefing

The UK government has announced an investment exceeding £5 billion in drones and autonomous systems throughout the current Parliament. This significant funding is part of the Defence Investment Plan, which aims to enhance domestic manufacturing, testing infrastructure, and artificial intelligence capabilities in uncrewed technology.

This investment is crucial as it reflects a strategic shift among allied nations towards prioritizing domestic production and trusted supply chains for critical technologies. The funding will support various branches of the UK armed forces, including autonomous aircraft for the Royal Air Force and uncrewed vessels for the Royal Navy, thereby strengthening national defense capabilities.

Looking ahead, the establishment of the Uncrewed Systems Taskforce and the Uncrewed Systems Centre in Swindon, Europe's largest drone testing facility, will facilitate collaboration with industry. No further timeline was disclosed at the time of publication.

Original report

UK Backs Sovereign Drone Ecosystem with £5 Billion Investment

Dronelife.com · Miriam McNabb
Read at Dronelife.com

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