Workbench to warfighter: building tech that matters

Workbench to warfighters – building tech that matters Pathfinder series 12 January 2026 Innovation alone doesn’t win wars but the deployment of those innovations do.   That was the hard-earned truth shared by Chris Manuel, former US Army Special Forces operator, aerospace VP and founder of defence tech ventures including ROVER, Simple Key Loader (SKL) and Tactinet.   In a candid conversation hosted by Tanya Suárez, Chris unpacked what it really takes for startups to cross the last mile of innovation – moving from promising prototypes to battlefield-proven systems.  Chris’s unique perspective comes from decades of operational experience combined with entrepreneurial grit. His mantra is simple: “Common sense and battlefield realities often trump specifications.” Startups often design for perfection in the lab, but in defence, success means overlaying technology onto operational concepts, solving real problems under real conditions, not just in theory. He illustrated this through three powerful case studies.   The first was Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER), born from a critical need in Afghanistan and Iraq where troops were flying blind into surveillance missions. Commanders needed real-time visuals from 100 miles away, but the official programme was 15 years out. Chris’s team built a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with millisecond latency and proved it in the field. This taught him the massive value of using animations and demos to help leaders visualise unfamiliar tech, and ship a threshold capability early, even if it’s clunky, to get feedback from warfighters fast and with accuracy.  The second example is the Simple Key Loader (SKL), which evolved from a small team of “13 people in a loft” into a full Program of Record (PoR) delivering over a million devices. A PoR represents a major acquisition initiative that is officially approved, funded and included in the Future Years Defence Program (FYDP). It signals a long-term, stable commitment to develop, procure, or sustain a specific system. For defence contractors, achieving PoR status means predictable, recurring revenue and a structured role within national defence programs. This transition required a shift in mindset, emphasizing reliability, repeatability and leveraging off-the-shelf components wherever possible. Industrialization may lack glamour, but it is critical for credibility and profitability.  Finally, there was Tactinet, a PDA-sized (palm-sized device) tactical network that initially failed. Early adopters wanted to kill it. Chris took engineers to Iraq, went on patrol and fixed code in the field. This quick thinking and innovation led to a $150M contract and a converted critic who became a champion. The major lesson here is clear: walk the walk – meaning get engineers and operators in the same environment to work together on solving the problem quicker and more efficiently.     Adapting your culture with engineers and owning your core strategy  Beyond technology, Chris emphasised culture. Silicon Valley norms don’t translate to the battlefield. You don’t always need engineers in the line of fire, but you need a culture that listens to ground truth, not just documents. You need to stand behind your product – anywhere it goes.   On strategy, his advice for founders is to own the “secret sauce.” Fund your core IP yourself to retain ownership, use government money for integration rather than invention, and position yourself as a systems integrator to add value without giving away your crown jewels. When working with primes, don’t fear them but leverage their scale while protecting your IP.   Demonstrate capability without exposing schematics and let them handle bureaucracy while you deliver innovation.    Perfection is the enemy of deployment   Innovators need to remember, that good enough beats perfect, a 70% solution today saves lives. And think like a prime: focus relentlessly on end-user capability.  Chris closed with a challenge: build a threshold capability. It doesn’t need to be perfect – just tangible enough for a warfighter to say, “I can use this.” From there, iteration becomes collaboration. Looking ahead, he sees AI and cyber as the next frontiers for integration – domains where speed to deploy will again be decisive.  Share on social media LinkedIn Email WhatsApp Read more Pathfinder series: Workbench to warfighter – building tech that matters Janus welcomes NATO DIANA 2026 Programme innovators Anita Friend: Bolstering innovation into defence

Anita Friend: Bolstering innovation into defence

Anita Friend: Bolstering innovation and readiness into defence 26 November 2025 Bolstering innovation and readiness into defence National security is fundamentally about protecting our people and our values. Innovation sits at the heart of this mission and supporting the innovation ecosystem is more vital than ever. We’re witnessing the return of strategic competition between nation states. Our adversaries are investing heavily in new technologies and processes, constantly seeking to gain the upper hand. This reality means we cannot afford to be reactive. We must stay ahead, maintaining both strategic and operational advantage through innovation to harness the potential within our industrial and academic base better and quicker than our adversaries. The innovation imperative So, what do we mean by innovation? Simply put, innovation is about generating new ideas and putting them into practice to give us an edge over our adversaries. It’s not just about developing new technologies (although that’s certainly important). it’s about exploiting ideas to achieve real, measurable impact. But here’s the crucial point: technology is only valuable if we know how to use it in ways that bring genuine benefit. This requires something special – a fusion of scientific and technological expertise with strategic and operational frontline knowledge. Innovation also only delivers value if it can be implemented at scale and pace, which means the business behind the idea and the partnerships between suppliers and government are absolutely critical. Breaking down barriers We recognise that barriers to engagement exist in our current system. That’s why UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), is working actively to overcome them. We’re raising awareness of defence and security challenges, helping provide clear demand signals to innovators and enabling suppliers to understand exactly how they can contribute by matching innovative ideas to genuine end-user needs. Crucially, we’re reaching out to non-traditional suppliers and working to level the playing field. The next breakthrough idea isn’t the sole preserve of government or traditional defence contractors. We need to access the widest possible range of innovators, drawing on scientific, technological, and entrepreneurial expertise from across the spectrum from prime contractors and SMEs to micro-businesses and academia. Building an inclusive ecosystem This approach requires us to ensure our innovation ecosystem is truly inclusive and encourages collaboration at every level. We’re forming partnerships across industry, academia, and government because we know that bringing together innovators with policy makers and capability owners produces the best results. The key is engaging with innovators throughout their journey to ensure outputs genuinely meet operational requirements. We’re bringing end-users into the innovation process much earlier and maintaining engagement throughout the entire innovation journey. This approach ensures we achieve effective pull-through and successful translation of research into operational capability. UKDI’s role and impact For those unfamiliar with UKDI, we find and fund exploitable innovation to support UK defence and security. We run funding competitions addressing specific challenges faced by government stakeholders – both targeted, time-bound themed competitions and through our also through our enduring Open Call programme. Since our establishment in 2016, we’ve evolved significantly. We’ve moved beyond simply finding and funding innovation to providing comprehensive support for the businesses behind the innovations, helping them grow and scale their technologies effectively. The impact of this approach is now clearly measurable. UKDI’s Impact Report 2025 with Beauhurst demonstrates how our support for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises is delivering significant benefits for both national security and economic growth. The numbers are compelling: UKDI-funded innovators generated £972 million in Gross Value Added between 2019 and 2023 Companies receiving UKDI funding secured an additional £592 million in equity investment (with £174 million raised in 2024 alone) UKDI-funded companies created 1,842 new jobs as they expanded their operations In addition, many UKDI-funded SMEs are now actively engaged in both domestic and international markets, demonstrating both the broad scope of our support and the global relevance of UK defence and security innovation. Looking forward: UK Defence Innovation The establishment of UKDI represents a significant commitment to defence innovation and is a tremendous opportunity for defence innovation to have real, lasting impact on the future of defence. But realising this opportunity requires all of us to work together – government, industry, academia, entrepreneurs, and innovators of every kind. Now as part of UKDI, we remain focused on addressing fragmentation in the innovation system, supporting dual-use technologies, and ensuring business growth is factored into the development of new defence and security capabilities. The future of our national security depends on the UK’s ability to innovate faster, smarter, and more collaboratively than ever before and we look forward to continuing on our mission to achieve this. Anita Friend  Head of the Defence and Security Accelerator, part of UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) Share on social media LinkedIn Email WhatsApp Read more Janus pathfinder series: Workbench to warfighter – building tech that matters Janus welcomes NATO DIANA 2026 Programme innovators Anita Friend: Bolstering innovation into defence