Key Features
DASA is seeking innovations that will enable deployed forces to move away from logistics resupply, towards self-sufficiency and enhanced operational energy.
Programme: DASA
Award: Share of up to £3.1 million
Opens: 21st May 2024
Closes: 2nd Jul 2024
Defence is on a journey to enable a future where more sustainable, green technologies are central to providing operational advantage. The deployed force will need to operate more concisely, i.e. removing all that is superfluous, with a smaller footprint; i.e. reduced energy demand, host nation resource reliance and carbon emissions, and greater agility. By doing so it will reduce its reliance on the support chain and demands on the regions in which it is operating.
DASA’s vision is a future where environmental technologies become the means for a revolution in military campaigning, where the emphasis shifts from logisticians planning to sustain at reach (the need for logistics resupply), to scientists and engineers designing for self-sustainment.
Our deployed force needs to be able to operate in a dispersed manner, capable of transitioning between varying levels of activity intensity, i.e. from routine intensity conflict to high intensity combat.
Changes could include but are not limited to:
Our vision for success is to increase resilience through the ability to acquire, produce, or negate the demand for resources at the point of need, thereby creating the conditions for increased independence of the deployed force from the military support chain. This better places us to outcompete and deter nearby adversaries through ensuring essential capabilities are readily available in a given situation without the need of resupply from the support chain.
The focus is on providing self-sustainment of the deployed expeditionary force and enhanced capability across the maritime, land and air domains. DASA are seeking solutions that are scalable from a small scale littoral strike 12 person team up to and including a large scale, enduring force of circa 2750 personnel sited in distributed nodes or locations within the deployed space.
This competition is open to any self-sufficiency and operational energy technologies that can provide a step change in deployed endurance in at least one of the challenge areas. It is also open to solutions that provide advantage across multiple challenge areas. We want technologies that will reduce defence’s heavy reliance on the support chain, give a winning edge over adversaries, meet the increasing requirement for electricity, deal with the thermal energy and improve battery technology.
DASA don’t want currently available technologies (unless they are not yet used in a defence context and are being applied in a novel way), or proposals that do not offer an increase of at least one technology readiness level.
For more information on this competition, see guidance notes here
This competition has seven challenges, each of which is described briefly in this document; please refer to the Challenge Details document to get the full details for each challenge:
Please select one challenge area for your proposal.
For all proposals you will be asked to demonstrate awareness of possible linkages to other challenges and the impact your solution may have on them, in order to highlight benefits and disadvantages.
DASA want novel ideas to benefit end-users working in UK Defence and Security. Your proposal should include evidence of:
DASA are not interested in proposals that:
The total possible funding available for this competition is £3.1 million (excluding VAT). Successful proposals will be contracted for 13 months (to allow attendance at the 6 month spotlight and 12 month demonstration events). However, the development work can be less than 13 months.
DASA expect to fund between 5 and 20 proposals of between £50,000 and £500,000 in value. The maximum value of proposal is £500,000.
Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.