The strategic initiative will bring together the UK’s most innovative defence and security SMEs, with Leonardo’s experience, expertise and market access, to deliver impactful capabilities to the UK’s Defence and National Security industry as well as allied forces.
Designed to create mutually beneficial partnerships between Leonardo’s UK business and leading technology SMEs, this programme will operationalise a select number of long-term SME partnerships, ensuring focused support and aligment with Leonardo's UK business.
The expectation is that this will translate into achieving two key strategic goals for SMEs, UK Ministry of Defence and Leonardo:
- Delivering mutual commercial benefit for partner SMEs and Leonardo, resulting in more orders, more jobs and more growth
- Ensuring delivery of innovative, credible and effective sovereign capability to the defence and security marketplace
The programme will be led by a dedicated combined Leonardo and Form1 team, and reflect Leonardo’s commitment to innovation, collaboration and growing a sustainable UK defence industry.
Simon Harwood, UK Capability Director at Leonardo, said the company’s decision to establish the programme was part of a desire to adopt a new model for SME engagement.
“We recognise that many significant technological breakthroughs originate from SMEs. However, traditional accelerator programmes or framework approaches often fail to meet their needs, because they offer generic support in specific markets and limited access to revenue opportunities.
“This new initiative focuses on delivering long-term, strategic and bespoke partnerships, not short-term innovation theatre. Our goal is to develop new capabilities, and go to market in partnership with SME partners, ensuring sustainable commercial success and benefits often not realised from purely transactional supplier relationships.”
John Downes, Co-CEO at Form1, added: “We are delighted to be working with Leonardo on this initiative. SMEs face unique challenges in the defence sector, from navigating complex procurement processes to difficulties accessing funding streams. At Form1, we believe that successful partnerships are built on people and the right behaviours, not just contracts. Leonardo has fully embraced this ethos, demonstrating a genuine commitment to supporting SMEs in a way that is both practical and commercially valuable. We look forward to working together to help drive innovation and create meaningful opportunities for UK defence SMEs.”
John Ridge, Chief Adoption Officer at the NATO Innovation Fund, said: “Ensuring that breakthrough technologies from SMEs transition into real-world defence applications is key to boosting the technological edge of Allied nations. Initiatives like Leonardo's SME Collaboration Partner Programme have an important role to play in bridging the gap between innovation and adoption, providing SMEs with the support, expertise, and market access they need to scale.”
