Government to make loans of up to £1.6m available for defence innovations by SMEs

By Nicky Godding

29 June 2021

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Jackal 2 Armoured Fighting Vehicles and a Panther patrol vehicle drive through wooded area on exercise. Light Dragoons train with US 2nd Cavalry in Germany before eFP deployment to Poland. Soldiers from the Light Dragoons Regiment have been making final preparations with the U.S Army 2nd Cavalry Regiment (2CR) in Germany. The United States is taking the lead role in NATO's enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) deployment to Poland. The UK, who has the lead role in NATO's eFP Estonia is also contributing to eFP Poland, as around 150 troops from the Light Dragoons regiment Based in Catterick, as well as a number of armoured vehicles, will travel with the U.S. 2CR to Orzysz in north east Poland. Photographer - Mr Dominic King - Army Press Office Germany Info; The Light Dragoons are a Light Cavalry Regiment in the Adaptive Force. As the name suggests, Light Dragoons were originally Light Cavalry mounted on fast horses, able to move quickly across the battlefield. Today, mounted on Jackal Fighting Vehicles, the light nature of the Regiment means they are able to deploy anywhere in the world at very short notice. In 2014 the Regiment changed from Formation Reconnaissance, on the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) family of vehicles, to Light Cavalry on the Jackal and Coyote wheeled platform. This has seen the unit move into a new role, deploying regularly on overseas training missions across North Africa. The Light Dragoons remains an agile reconnaissance asset quickly deployable to any part of the world as one of three Light Cavalry units across 1st (United Kingdom) Division. With a history to match any regiment across the British Army, The Light Dragoons continues to prove itself on active operations around the world as one of the foremost mounted reconnaissance units. Deployment at the forefront of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence under the United States’ 2nd Cavalry Regiment marks the next chapter in their illustrious history. NATO enhanced Forward Presence (eFP); As part of NATO’s strengthened deterrence and defence posture, Allies agreed at the 2016 Summit in Warsaw to enhance NATO’s military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance. NATO’s enhanced forward presence is defensive, proportionate, and in line with international commitments. It represents a significant commitment by Allies and is a tangible reminder that an attack on one is an attack on all. Beginning in early 2017, NATO’s enhanced forward presence will comprise multinational forces provided by framework nations and other contributing Allies on a voluntary, sustainable and rotational basis. They will be based on four rotational battalion-size battlegroups that will operate in concert with national home defence forces, and will be present in the host countries. Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States are the framework nations for the robust multinational presence in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland respectively. The four battlegroups will come under NATO command.

The government's Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) has launched the Defence Innovation Loan, a new competition with a pot of £10 million to lend for innovative defence solutions.

Accessible to SMEs, and with a below market interest rate of 7.4 per cent per annum, the Defence Innovation Loan offers the opportunity for smaller businesses to apply for affordable funds to help convert a mature defence innovation into a viable business proposition that can compete for defence procurement

This new opportunity is delivered through a partnership between DASA and Innovate UK.

The total of £10 million is available for the Defence Innovation Loan competition this year.

Businesses can apply for a loan between £250,000 and £1.6 million with a below market interest rate of 7.4 per cent per annum. This loan can cover up to 100 per cent of eligible project costs to help the commercialisation of the solution and overall term of the loan must not exceed 7 years.

Innovate UK will be carrying out the Defence Innovation Loan credit evaluation of this competition and participants will enter into a loan agreement and security agreement with Innovate UK Loans Ltd

To apply for a Defence Innovation Loan businesses must be a UK registered SME, intend to exploit the results in the UK or overseas to make a significant and positive impact on the UK economy and/or productivity, give evidence that your business is suitable to take on a loan

Individuals, academic institutions, research organisations and large companies are not eligible for innovation loans.

The Defence Innovation Loan is open to innovative ideas to improve the defence of the UK. The innovation must be mature at TRL 6 or above, to ensure the solution can be commercialised within the time scale of the Innovation Loan. There also must clearly be evidence of a defence need for the innovative solution.

Click here for the full DASA Competition document

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.