The Ministry of Defence will invest £580 million over four years in Dstl’s Porton Down site. This includes building a new lab for biological threats, named after NATO co-founder Ernest Bevin.
For founders, the bigger news is that £1.6 billion has been set aside through 2030 for the UK Defence Innovation Fund, which aims to identify and support the next major British defence company.
This news comes as global defence technology funding hits new highs. In the first five months of 2026, startups have already raised more than they did in all of 2025.
The Ministry of Defence has announced a new lab at one of the UK’s most secure research sites. The lab will be named after Ernest Bevin, a former foreign secretary and NATO co-founder, and will be built at Dstl’s Porton Down campus.
While this is a big step for science policy, the release also points to a larger sum for founders and investors: £1.6 billion set aside through 2030 to support the next major British defence company.
