Guidance

IFA042 – Unlocking the true potential of Test and Evaluation for Defence

Updated 19 November 2024

1. Unlocking the true potential of Test and Evaluation for Defence

Unique Identifier: IFA042

This IFA will be open for submissions until the close of this cycle (FY24/25 Cycle 4), after which time it will then pause until further notice.

2. Background

Test & Evaluation (T&E) is the collection and analysis of evidence about the behaviour and performance of a system, under relevant operational conditions. This is used across the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Industry, and is vital to the understanding, development, delivery and deployment of all defence and security capabilities ensuring they are safe, effective and offer value for money.

The MOD Test and Evaluation Transformation Programme, exists to ensure Defence can validate technologies at speed in an increasingly complex threat environment. A key part of this is that the T&E enterprise becomes and remains innovative by instinct. The MOD knows that industry is integral to meeting this objective, and therefore is working with the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) to invite proposals to present innovative/novel techniques to conduct and deliver T&E.

This DASA competition is part of a wider MOD T&E Transformation Programme Fund that was launched for MOD submission in 2023. This fund asked MOD  to propose ideas that explore, and adopt new ways of thinking about, conducting and exploiting T&E. The fund is split into 4 schemes. Three of the schemes are open to MOD only, but this DASA competition lays out the challenges under a scheme that is open to industry and academia at this time. The ‘Challenge’ scheme seeks proposals for priority T&E issues for which no solution is currently known, as well as proposals suggesting new novel solutions that could be applied to both existing and future requirements. The T&E Transformation Programme is working with DASA to invite proposals to present innovative/novel techniques to conduct and deliver T&E as part of the ‘Challenge’ scheme, ensuring that our T&E enterprise becomes and remains innovative by instinct. 

3. Scope

This Innovation Focus Area (IFA) is seeking proposals that present ideas that contribute to and continue to contribute to the modernisation of the Defence T&E enterprise. The MOD is looking for novel T&E ideas across all domains that:

• accelerate the assurance of new systems and technologies

*attune systems to the latest threats, emerging programme requirements and likely operating environments, for example by using digital tools and methods

• enable capability to be more available to the war fighter, more quickly, more often and for longer. For example, mobile T&E infrastructure (taking the test to the capability rather than the capability to the test) allowing for rapid (re)assessment and assurance

• enable agility by creating better understanding of the capability through innovative T&E methods and delivery

• enable accelerated acceptance of the capability at test, by developing the novel T&E methods and processes with key regulations/ regulators (for example the Defence Safety Authority) in mind and enabling better understanding of risks and mitigations.

Please see here for an example of some of the activity MOD T&E Transformation have progressed .

4. Clarification

We are seeking proposals that: 

• develop new or novel approaches to achieve existing outcomes more efficiently/effectively
• develop and demonstrate modern techniques or equipment to deliver new or enhanced outcomes
• develop current capability in a novel way to achieve efficiency or enhanced effect
• provide evidence to the impact of the novel approach/technique
• have a clear plan for future development and scaling, including engagement and compliance with any applicable regulatory requirements
• proposals are expected to deliver at TRL6 (prototype) at the end of the contract , include (if applicable) any planned demonstration(s) in the proposal
• have a project duration of approximately 6 months - this is likely to be reviewed after each cycle with the possibility of being extended
• have suggested project values of between £50,000-£200,000 with a maximum of £500,000 available this financial year

We are not seeking proposals that:

• are maintenance or repair of existing test facilities or cover enduring capability costs
• are like for like replacement of T&E equipment
• present no innovation
• subsidise existing T&E services
• are solely literature reviews
• are an unsolicited resubmission of a previous DASA bid
• offer demonstrations of off-the-shelf products requiring no experimental development (unless applied in a novel way)
• offer no real long-term prospect of integration into defence and security capabilities
• offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions

This IFA will be open for a minimum of two cycles, and is expected to be open for multiple Open Call cycles and will be reviewed annually. Proposals will be prioritised if they meet a Defence T&E challenge that have no known solutions in place  .

5. Exploitation

The outcomes of your proposal may be exploited through one or more of the following, depending on the nature of the advance made and the challenge and domain to  which the work is directed:

• further development through T&E Transformation to scale up innovative T&E techniques across Defence, in particular through the continual range modernisation  and optimisation projects
• incorporation into to the MOD T&E centralised provision (if pan domain)
• exploitation through a focused MOD unit or Front-Line Command (if single domain)
• the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and The Defence Nuclear Organisation (DNO) are supporting this call through assessment of submitted proposals as well as potential exploitation opportunities,
• the MOD T&E Transformation Programme will be creating case studies and press packs to showcase funded projects- successful proposers are expected to support the MOD T&E Transformation Programme and supporting bodies to deliver case studies and communication materials (i.e. case studies, press packs and possible interviews) as part of their end of project activity
• successful suppliers should invite the customer team to any relevant demonstrations  and project meetings.

Additional funding beyond the IFA phase is not guaranteed. Please refer to the Open Call Competition Document for Terms & Conditions, and note the GFA conditions in particular as GFA is not included in this IFA.

Find out more about how to apply

Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what we are looking for.

Submit a proposal