Defence Holdings PLC has made significant strides in its mission to strengthen allied defence capabilities, rapidly advancing its sovereign-AI products and deepening collaborations with global technology leaders. In less than a year since outlining its five-year plan, the UK-listed defence technology group has transitioned from strategic planning to operational execution, aligning closely with the UK’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR25).
At the heart of Defence Holdings’ progress is its expanding portfolio of sovereign-AI capabilities, designed to enhance information dominance, interoperability, and decision support. The company has built a world-class delivery team, earning recognition from senior UK defence leaders and NATO-aligned programmes. This growing momentum underscores Defence Holdings’ ability to address complex, real-world capability challenges, attracting increasing engagement from the technology, defence, and national-security communities.
Project Ixian, Defence Holdings’ flagship sovereign-AI product, is nearing commercialisation following validation with UK defence stakeholders. The software-led, AI-enabled capability extends the value of existing hardware by performing time-critical inference at the edge, fusing multi-sensor data to improve identification confidence, accelerate response cycles, and reduce operational risk. Additionally, the company’s second sovereign-AI product is in active co-development with a new hyperscale partner, further extending its technological reach.
Defence Holdings is now collaborating at the highest echelons of the UK defence and national-security community, as well as within NATO frameworks, including representation in the Coalition of the Willing. The company has been formally recognised by senior defence leadership as a “Tier 1 asset” within the UK’s innovation ecosystem, underscoring its growing role as a trusted partner in the delivery of sovereign capability.
To support its rapid growth and delivery at scale, Defence Holdings is significantly expanding its senior leadership team. Recruitment is underway for key executive roles, including Chief Operating Officer, to strengthen operational oversight and programme execution. This expansion builds on the foundation established under the Chairmanship of General Lord Houghton of Richmond GCB CBE DL.
The company continues to execute its strategy with financial discipline, maintaining a robust balance sheet and significant headroom to support ongoing delivery. Capital deployment remains tightly aligned to programme milestones, ensuring growth is driven by validated demand rather than speculative expansion.
Defence Holdings’ collaboration model has proven highly effective, with the company now actively engaged across multiple sovereign-AI programmes. These collaborations include integration workshops and technical sprints alongside global technology companies, UK Government stakeholders, and allied institutions. This shift from partnership in principle to collaboration in delivery reflects a broader dynamic: Defence Holdings being actively pulled into the centre of the UK defence and technology community.
In October, Google Cloud was confirmed as the hyperscale provider for Project Ixian, Defence Holdings’ inaugural sovereign-AI product. Built on Google Distributed Cloud Air-Gapped, Ixian meets the highest standards of security and data residency, combining sovereign control with hyperscale performance. This collaboration anchors Defence Holdings’ model: sovereign software, powered by allied hyperscale infrastructure, delivered at speed.
Defence Holdings and Whitespace participated in technical briefings at NVIDIA’s Las Vegas showcase, previewing the new DGX Spark platform. This positions Defence Technologies among a select group testing next-generation AI compute for mission-critical use. Additionally, Defence Technologies attended Oracle AI World 2025 in Las Vegas for a series of closed-door sessions with Oracle’s UK and global defence and national-security leadership, exploring how Defence Technologies’ sovereign-AI software can operate natively on Oracle’s hyperscale infrastructure.
Andrew McCartney, Chief Technology Officer of Defence Holdings, commented: “In under a year, we’ve moved from concept to capability. Defence Holdings is now delivering sovereign software that addresses real operational needs. Software that’s deployable, scalable, and aligned with allied infrastructure. The most considerable change in recent months is the level of engagement. We’re no longer presenting ideas from the outside; we’re being brought into the core of defence transformation, working directly with those shaping the UK’s and NATO’s digital operating model. That shift reflects disciplined execution, credible delivery, and the calibre of the team driving it. Our focus now is on scale – expanding our engineering capacity, deepening collaboration with hyperscalers, and embedding our technology into live defence environments to strengthen national resilience and operational advantage for the United Kingdom and its allies.”
The company has received notices from warrant holders to exercise warrants over a total of 96,399,279 ordinary shares of £0.001 each in the Company (“Ordinary Shares”).
As Defence Holdings enters a new phase of execution and expansion, it remains one of the few listed companies positioned to capture this generational opportunity, combining sovereign design, hyperscale integration, and commercial agility.