UK Defence Innovation Security Open Call

The UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) Security Open Call is an enduring, theme-free call for disruptive security and defence-adjacent technology ideas that might otherwise be overlooked, and it absorbed the former DASA Open Call when DASA was folded into UKDI. Funding is capped at GBP 350,000 per standard project, or GBP 150,000 for testing-and-trialling-only projects, with no minimum project value. Proposals must come from UK-based organisations, or the UK-registered entity of an international organisation, with the work carried out in the UK; no consortium is required. The call runs in recurring cycles with a two-stage process, a roughly 1,000-word Stage 1 idea overview followed by an invitation-only Stage 2; Cycle 2026-1 closed 27 August 2026 and Cycle 2026-2 runs 1 October to 29 October 2026, with further cycles scheduled for January, March and May 2027.