Defence Online

Second Front Systems and Valarian have announced a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the deployment of sovereign defence software across the UK and Europe.

This collaboration arrives as European defence spending undergoes a transformative expansion, reaching an estimated €392 billion in 2025 – a 79% increase from the €218 billion recorded in 2021. The partnership is designed to address the historical challenges of European market fragmentation by providing a unified, sovereign-by-design digital infrastructure that allows nations to deploy critical software with absolute autonomy and control over their data and compute environments.

The collaboration integrates Second Front’s Game Warden platform, which specialises in the rapid delivery of compliant commercial technology into classified environments, with Valarian’s ACRA platform. ACRA is engineered to enforce rigorous control over data, access, and compute through a sovereign enclave architecture. This technical synergy is particularly relevant for UK and European defence contractors who require the ability to run sensitive applications without maintaining external dependencies. By creating independently controlled environments that prevent sensitive systems from communicating with external servers – commonly referred to as “phoning home” – the partnership ensures that mission-critical integrity is maintained in alignment with national security requirements.

For businesses within the UK defence supply chain, this strategic alliance offers a streamlined pathway for bringing commercial innovations into the most sensitive operational contexts. As NATO members increase their commitments and prioritise sovereign control over military capabilities, the demand for infrastructure that eliminates rather than manages external dependency is expected to grow. The joint solution provided by Second Front and Valarian allows for compartmentalised environments and audit-first infrastructure, facilitating faster accreditation and compliance with evolving European security and jurisdictional standards.

This development underscores a significant shift in the defence market toward infrastructure that prioritises autonomy as a foundational architecture rather than an optional feature. Prime contractors and sub-contractors looking to expand their presence in the European rearmament market can leverage these secure deployment pathways to ensure their digital solutions meet the strict sovereignty requirements of various Allied nations. By bridging the gap between commercial speed and sovereign control, the partnership aims to define the next generation of digital defence infrastructure, enabling the rapid scaling of software-defined capabilities across the Alliance while maintaining total jurisdictional integrity and operational security.

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