The Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract worth up to £86 million to UK-based SME BlackTree Technologies to supply advanced tactical communications equipment to the British Army, aimed at speeding up battlefield decision-making and improving access to reconnaissance and intelligence data.

The agreement will see the rollout of the Dismounted Data System (DDS), an AI-capable suite of equipment that includes radios, headsets, display tablets, cables, batteries, pouches and antennas.

The systems are designed to rapidly reduce the time it takes for soldiers to receive information, providing precise details on their surroundings and intelligence, increasing clarity over who are enemies and who are comrades, while also boosting lethality and reducing friendly fire incidents.

By linking soldiers through a shared network, DDS will allow troops to receive either voice, visual data, or a combination of both, depending on operational needs. The system is intended to be tailored to different scenarios, maximising effectiveness across a range of battlefield situations.

The technology has already been tested by British soldiers during deployment in Estonia on NATO’s eastern flank. During the trials, the visual information element enabled soldiers to be less distracted by loud noises on the battlefield.

An initial £46 million contract has been awarded by the Army, with options for a further £40 million. Delivery of DDS will take place in multiple tranches from September, with full rollout of the equipment expected to be completed in 2027.

The contract is expected to create 12 new defence industry jobs across Tewkesbury, Hereford and Birmingham, and aligns with the government’s commitment to increase spending with UK small and medium-sized enterprises.

The announcement follows the government’s pledge to deliver the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, reaching 2.6% of GDP from 2027.

Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard MP, said: “The ability to receive, share and deploy accurate information is crucial to battlefield advantage, and this state-of-the-art technology will make our soldiers more integrated and more lethal.

“It will begin rolling out to the British Army this year and with the work delivered by a British-based SME, shows that our move to warfighting readiness is being seized as an opportunity to make defence an engine for growth in the UK.”

The programme also supports the Chief of the General Staff’s ambition to double the British Army’s lethality by 2027 and contributes to delivery of the Strategic Defence Review’s move towards warfighting readiness.

Brigadier Jeremy Sharpe, Head of Tactical Systems at the National Armaments Director Group, said: “We are delighted to be building on the successful deployment in Estonia last year and looking forward to working with BlackTree Technologies to bring this game changing capability to more of the British Army.”

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BlackTree founder and Managing Director Neil Clements-Hill added: “BlackTree are excited to be working with the TacSys team to field this cutting-edge technology to the British Army. Waveforms ensure that the Army can operate in the most demanding environments, when nothing else works.

“From initial experimentation under the DSA programme, through the delivery of Project ASGARD in 2025, and now delivering Dismounted Data System capacity, we have been working closely with the Army for many years and are very happy to continue this close relationship and help ensure that they can achieve their vision of modernising their tactical networks.”

The contract also aligns with wider MOD efforts to support UK SMEs, including the establishment of the Defence Office for Small Business Growth in January and a spending target of an additional £2.5 billion with UK SMEs through to May 2028, bringing total annual MOD spending with SMEs to £7.5 billion.