The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and QinetiQ have launched Project Safari to simplify access to military testing facilities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), aiming to shorten the time needed to assess new technology before it enters service.
Companies will have a single point of contact to arrange access to test sites and specialist expertise.
The program will also streamline trial approvals and address administrative hurdles that, according to the DOD, have held back smaller firms and businesses from entering the defense market.
Testing will cover technologies including hypersonic missiles, directed-energy weapons, and autonomous systems.
Planned infrastructure upgrades and closer coordination between government, industry, and regulators are intended to support those trials and speed up decisions.
According to the DOD, by making testing more accessible to smaller suppliers, Safari supports the Strategic Defence Review’s goal of increasing annual defense spending with SMEs by 2.5 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) by summer 2028.
The initiative also forms part of broader efforts under the Defence Investment Plan, which is backed by 298 billion pounds ($394 billion) in UK defense funding over four years.
Hypersonic Testing at Hebrides
Alongside the launch of Project Safari, Defence Readiness and Industry Minister Luke Pollard signed an agreement with QinetiQ to begin designing upgrades to MOD Hebrides, the UK’s largest weapons test range, located in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.
The work is the initial design phase of a planned multimillion-pound investment to prepare the site for hypersonic missile trials and other advanced technologies.
During the visit, Pollard and QinetiQ CEO Steve Wadey met with representatives from smaller companies, including Greenjets and Cambridge Aerospace, to discuss the difficulties of accessing testing services.
Pollard also met MGI Engineering, an Oxfordshire-based company developing low-cost, long-range weapons for Ukraine.