Event Programme

The DIP creates a funding envelope. This session helps you build a target account list. Senior MOD figures will translate the plan into contracting cadence: which capability areas, which delivery agents, and which parts of the budget are real versus contingent. For Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers, the question isn’t what the DIP says — it’s what it means for your pipeline through to 2030.

The DIP does not exist in isolation. UK defence exports and collaborative programmes with European and Indo-Pacific partners create additional commercial opportunities for export-ready organisations. This session closes the day with representation from DBT Defence & Security Exports and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency.

The most substantive commercial session of the day. The 10% incentive ceiling, the Innovation Uplift for self-funded R&D, the shift from ITT to ITN — each of these changes rewrites what it means to be commercially competitive in defence. If your organisation is planning to bid for DIP-funded contracts, you need to understand what the new commercial regime demands of you before you enter the room.

Most SMEs will engage with the DIP not through a prime but through a mid-tier integrator. This session explores how that tier is evolving, and how smaller suppliers can secure subcontract positions on DIP-funded programmes — without needing a direct MOD relationship.

If your organisation is not currently operating in the defence supply chain but has relevant capabilities in AI, cyber, advanced manufacturing, energy, or logistics, this is your session. UKDI representatives, Regional Defence and Security Cluster leads, and cross-sector companies who have made the transition will explain the practical routes in.