techUK has published the findings of a survey of its UK defence technology members, warning that prolonged uncertainty around defence investment has moved from a theoretical risk to industrial capacity to a measurable, immediate harm to companies across the defence supply chain.
The survey is published on a significant milestone: this month marks one year since the publication of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) in June 2025. Yet a full year on, the UK Government has still not published the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) – the document industry needs to plan investment, recruitment and supply chain commitments against the SDR’s ambitions. techUK members are clear that the absence of the DIP is the single most significant driver of harm for the sector, the survey reveals.
techUK surveyed 45 defence technology suppliers – 18 small, 12 medium and 15 large enterprises – over the course of May 2026, all of them existing or recent suppliers to the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
The headline findings:
- 73% report that the market environment for UK defence tech companies has declined since the SDR was published in June 2025 (37% marginally, 36% significantly); only 13% report any improvement.
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73% have experienced a contract suspension or cancellation in the last six months.
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87% have experienced funding delays or reductions in the last six months.
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47% are still awaiting a contract extension from the financial year ending March 2026, with several reporting that this now puts the delivery and maintenance of existing operational capabilities at risk.
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73% report that these delays have driven supply chain cost increases that flow through into delivery cost to the MOD.
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67% report that SMEs within their supply chain have been directly impacted.
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93% – 42 of 45 respondents – are reassessing investment or recruitment decisions as a direct result of the current environment.
The DIP delay is the leading driver
Asked what was behind contract suspensions, funding delays and reductions, members repeatedly identified the same small set of causes. By a clear margin the most frequently cited driver was the delay to the Defence Investment Plan, named by 28 (62%) respondents – ahead of the wider financial climate within the MOD (19), delays to defence reform and the appointment of senior decision-makers (10), and a shortage of commercial officers to get contracts onto paper (10).
The result, members say, is a self-reinforcing cycle: uncertainty over the DIP defers commercial decisions; deferred decisions drive contract suspensions and funding gaps; and those gaps force companies – particularly SMEs – to cut headcount, withdraw investment, and in some cases exit the UK defence market entirely in favour of allied markets with a more predictable commercial cadence. One major systems integrator reports c.£30M of committed work held up by contracting delays, with knock-on risk to delivery against NATO’s Steadfast Defender 2027 commitments.
Comment from techUK CEO, Julian David OBE: “One year ago today, the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) set out a bold and welcome ambition for UK defence. Industry shares that ambition – but twelve months on, we are still waiting for the Defence Investment Plan. Without it, there is no credible plan to fund and implement the SDR’s recommendations, and no basis for the close partnership with industry that delivery will require. The cost of that delay is now showing up in our members’ order books, their balance sheets, and their decisions about whether to remain in the UK defence market at all.
These results are stark. Companies of every size are reassessing investment and recruitment, SMEs are being pushed out, and the very industrial capability the SDR depends on is being eroded in real time – at exactly the moment the Government is asking industry to scale up. This is no longer a theoretical risk; it is measurable, immediate harm. Publishing the Defence Investment Plan, with the granularity industry needs to plan against, is the single most important step the Government can take to turn the SDR’s ambition into reality.”
What techUK is asking for
techUK and its members fully support the ambition of the SDR. To translate that ambition into delivery, we are calling on the Government to:
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Publish the Defence Investment Plan before the NATO Summit in Ankara on 07 July , with sufficient granularity for industry to plan investment, recruitment and supply chain commitments against it. Failure to publish the DIP before the NATO Summit will greatly undermine the UK’s status as a credible and reliable partner in the alliance.
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Provide interim certainty by confirming contract extensions for FY2025/26 and clearing the backlog of awarded-but-not-contracted tenders, so that committed capability is not lost while the DIP is finalised.
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Address the commercial bottleneck by ensuring the MOD has the commercial officer capacity needed to convert intent into contract on a credible timeline.
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Engage industry directly on the sequencing of DIP implementation, so that companies – and the SMEs in their supply chains – can align their own plans to delivery priorities.
techUK has shared the full results of the survey with the Government through the Defence Industrial Joint Council, and has written to the Minister for Defence Readiness & Industry setting out the findings in detail.
Post written by: Vicky Maggiani
Vicky has worked in media for over 25 years and has a wealth of experience in editing and creating copy for a variety of sectors.
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