Project Safari opens UK defence testing to SMEs
If you are wondering how a military idea becomes equipment troops can actually use, the slowest stage is often not invention. It is testing. In its announcement on gov.uk, the Ministry of Defence said a new programme called Project Safari is meant to speed that stage up, especially for smaller firms trying to bring new technology into service. The headline claim is big. The MOD and QinetiQ say technologies such as hypersonic missiles, directed-energy weapons and autonomous systems should be assessed, improved and moved towards deployment more quickly. **What this means:** Safari is less about inventing the next weapon and more about clearing the path from prototype to proof.
That matters because Test and Evaluation, usually shortened to T&E, is where ideas meet reality. A company can build a clever system in a workshop, but defence buyers still need to know whether it works safely, repeatedly and under pressure. Without that stage, promising kit does not become trusted kit. According to the government announcement, smaller businesses and first-time defence suppliers have often struggled to get through this process. The problem is not only cost. It is also paperwork, repeated approvals and difficulty getting time at specialist UK-controlled sites.
Project Safari is supposed to change that by giving firms a clearer route in. The MOD says it will create one entry point for SMEs seeking access to UK test facilities and will simplify approvals for trials. That may sound administrative, but it is often where months are lost. **Why this matters beyond defence:** when a system is too hard for smaller companies to enter, large established suppliers keep the advantage. A simpler route can widen competition, help newer firms be heard and spread jobs and investment beyond the biggest contractors.
QinetiQ sits in the middle of this because it has a long-standing role in UK defence testing and specialist ranges. In the same announcement, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said limited access to testing facilities has held back smaller businesses and new entrants. QinetiQ chief executive Steve Wadey made the case more bluntly: if the UK wants an edge, it has to turn ideas into usable capability faster than its rivals. We should read that carefully. Faster approval does not mean no scrutiny. It means the government wants less duplication and fewer avoidable delays while keeping technical and regulatory checks in place. **What it means in plain English:** quicker decisions, not weaker safety questions.
The practical side of the plan was on show at MOD Hebrides, which the government describes as the UK's largest weapons test range. During a visit there, Pollard signed an agreement with QinetiQ for the first design stage of a multimillion-pound investment to help the site test hypersonic missiles and other advanced systems. He and Wadey also met SME representatives, including Greenjets and Cambridge Aerospace, to hear what getting access to T&E services is actually like from the companies' side. That matters, because policy papers often sound smooth until you ask the people filling in the forms.
The visit also included MGI Engineering, an Oxfordshire-based SME involved in Project Brakestop and working on low-cost long-range weapons for Ukraine. That detail shows where the urgency is coming from. Defence innovation is not being discussed only as a future ambition; it is tied to present conflicts, present supply needs and present pressure to move faster. Project Safari is also being used to show that the Strategic Defence Review is starting to affect procurement in real life. The review included a commitment to increase defence spending with SMEs by an extra £2.5 billion a year by summer 2028, and the government is presenting Safari as one route towards that promise.
The wider money story is large. The announcement links Safari to a Defence Investment Plan backed by £298 billion over the next four years. For ministers, the argument is that easier testing, faster approvals and more SME involvement should strengthen both national security and local economies. For us, the useful takeaway is simple. Defence procurement is not only about buying weapons; it is also about who gets access, who gets blocked by paperwork and how quickly a good idea can be proven in the real world. If Project Safari does what the MOD says it will do, smaller firms should find it easier to move from concept to trial to service. If it does not, this will be another well-worded promise that ran into the same old gates.