UK MoD to fast-track agile software development

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) will invest £30 million in the development of application software for the armed forces, the MoD announced on 11 March.

The funding will allow the rapid adaption of advanced technology to be used in extreme environments, from natural disasters to the frontline.

The technology will provide the military the ability to combat emerging threats through the development of responsive software that can visualise and automate secure, critical information, tailored to the mission, anywhere in the world.

The new approach, supported by Joint Forces Command, will allow defence specialists to develop and customise applications to meet operational requirements, assure its robustness and security, and deploy it on military networks in a matter of days. As a mission evolves, the application will be able to be adapted and changed to keep pace with the demands of the operation.

The capability, called the Platform for Rapid Exploitation of Digital Applications, is similar to the technology being introduced by the US Air Force (USAF) and US Marine Corps. The USAF has already delivered 18 customised applications to support planning and C2 functions at its air operations centres.

While the approach is initially expected to provide tools to support decision making and C2, the initiative could be rolled out to other disciplines, such as cyber defence, logistics and medical support.

The technology is expected to be in use by the end of 2019.