By Anthony Soares, Defence Lead, EfficiencyIT
This year’s DPRTE conference at Farnborough arrived at a moment of genuine significance for UK defence. Against a backdrop of rising geopolitical uncertainty, ongoing conflicts, and the continued anticipation surrounding the Defence Investment Plan, the event could easily have carried a tone of caution. Instead, what we encountered across the exhibition floor and in every conversation was something markedly different: energy, ambition, and a shared sense that the sector is on the cusp of real change.
For EfficiencyIT, DPRTE 2026 reinforced much of what we have been thinking for some time about the importance of resilient, deployable digital infrastructure in supporting modern defence operations. But more than that, it gave us a window into where the broader defence community is heading and how our capabilities sit within that trajectory.
A sector ready to act
The overriding impression from this year’s conference was one of positivity and forward momentum. Despite the well-documented delays to the Defence Investment Plan and the complexities created by the conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere, the atmosphere among exhibitors and delegates was overwhelmingly constructive. There was a palpable sense of collaboration within industry, with organisations actively seeking to work together on tangible projects rather than deferring conversations due to lack of confidence in sector spending.
Walking around with our Manging Director, Nick Ewing, the quality of conversation was striking. People were not hedging their bets or waiting for clarity before committing to partnerships. They were sitting down, discussing real requirements, and identifying where synergies exist. That kind of willingness to act, even amid uncertainty, speaks volumes about the maturity and confidence of the UK defence supply chain right now.
Defence reform and the new delivery model
One of the standout moments of the event came from Rupert Pearce, the relatively newly appointed National Armaments Director. As part of the wider defence reform programme, the NAD group now brings together a number of previously distinct organisations, including the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Defence Digital, andDE&S, under a single delivery function. Part of the role of the NAD group is to understand the requirements of the frontline commands and then engage with industry to fulfil them, with the mission: “Maximising our war-fighters’ collective ability to operate, deter, fight and win.
What was particularly encouraging was the emphasis Pearce placed on the relationship between the MOD and its supply chain. Having come from an industry background himself, he brought a perspective grounded in practical delivery rather than bureaucratic process. His message was clear: the days of a purely transactional relationship between defence and industry are behind us. The Strategic Defence Review has set the direction, and the intent now is to build genuine partnerships that deliver both military capability and economic value for the UK.
With defence spending on a trajectory towards 3.5% of GDP by 2035, the scale of investment is significant -what matters now is how that investment is channelled. The NAD’s focus on involving the UK defence industrial ecosystem in the transformation of our armed forces is a welcome signal for companies like EfficiencyIT that operate at the intersection of innovation and practical delivery.
The hybrid digital backbone
From a digital infrastructure perspective, one of the most consistent themes across the conversations we had at DPRTE was the growing recognition that the defence digital backbone requires a hybrid approach , combining cloud, on-premise, centralised data centre, and edge compute in a model that reflects the future requirements of modern military operations while taking advantage of existing technologies and proven designs.
The reasoning is straightforward. Cloud services in the defence context are currently limited in terms of classification level, with cloud platforms operating up to OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE only. Anything beyond that requires alternative infrastructure. And when it comes to deployable operations, the constraints multiply further. High-performance compute needs to be delivered where and when it is required, at the right classification level, with the resilience and security that operational environments demand.
This is where modular data centre infrastructure comes into its own. You cannot build a traditional brick-and-mortar facility on the edge, not least because the edge itself moves. Modular solutions, built off-site, pre-tested, and ready for rapid deployment, address the core challenges of pace, scalability, and security that defence operations present. In practical terms, a modular data centre can be configured as anything from a compact unit housing a single server and its supporting infrastructure through to a full shipping container-scale deployment, depending on the application and environment.
AI and the infrastructure question
AI dominated much of the conversation at DPRTE, as it does across the defence sector more broadly. But what was interesting was how the discussion played out at different levels. Senior leaders and end users tend to focus on the output of AI, and rightly so. What can these applications, algorithms, and platforms actually deliver to increase mission success?
Infrastructure, by contrast, is often treated as an assumed enabler. There is a tendency to expect that once a requirement for AI or high-performance compute is established, the infrastructure to support it will be in place. In the civilian world, that assumption holds up reasonably well. We access AI-powered services every day without thinking about the data centres and networks that underpin them. In a defence context, however, the picture is more complex.
The challenge is not just about providing compute power. It is about providing it securely, at the right classification level, with minimal latency, in locations that may be remote or hostile, with resilient power sources, and at a pace that matches operational tempo. Those are the questions that drive the need for deployable, modular infrastructure, and those are the conversations we found ourselves having repeatedly at DPRTE this year.
Collaboration in practice
One of the real benefits of an event like DPRTE is the opportunity it creates for exactly the kind of cross-industry collaboration that Rupert Pearce described. During the conference, we had the chance to engage with organisations working on operational AI where traditional network connectivity is unavailable. These conversations were enormously productive. Companies focused on the software and application layer are increasingly recognising that the hardware deployment question is critical to delivering their solutions in defence environments.
For EfficiencyIT, that presents a natural point of collaboration. Our expertise in modular data centre design, build, and deployment complements the capabilities of organisations working higher up the technology stack. The result is a more complete offering for defence, one that addresses both the application and the infrastructure in a way that neither party could deliver alone. Several of these conversations have already led to follow-up engagements, which is exactly the kind of tangible outcome that makes DPRTE so valuable.
The UK’s AI infrastructure opportunity
The UK government has set out its ambition for the country to be one of the global leaders in AI and digital technology. Within defence, that ambition is backed by genuine momentum. The Strategic Defence Review’s emphasis on marrying military reinvigoration with UK industrial growth creates a framework in which companies operating in the digital infrastructure space have a meaningful role to play.
The UK consistently ranks among the top three nations globally for AI capability, alongside the United States and China. Our depth of talent, our universities, and our innovation ecosystem provide a strong foundation. What has been less well explored, in our view, is the infrastructure layer that underpins all of it. Deploying AI in defence settings is not simply a question of writing better algorithms. It requires the physical infrastructure to process, store, and transmit data in environments where resilience, security, and speed are non-negotiable.
That is the space EfficiencyIT occupies, and DPRTE 2026 confirmed that the market is moving firmly in that direction.
Looking ahead
DPRTE remains the UK’s premier event for defence procurement and supply chain engagement, and this year’s conference showed why. The combination of senior stakeholder insight, practical industry engagement, and actual commercial opportunity is difficult to replicate in any other format.
For EfficiencyIT, the key takeaway is clear. The defence sector’s need for deployable, resilient, modular data centre infrastructure is accelerating. The conversations we had at DPRTE 2026 confirmed the alignment between our capabilities and the direction of travel for UK defence. Whether the requirement is for edge compute on the front line, hybrid digital backbone architectures, or rapidly deployable high-performance compute platforms, modular infrastructure offers the pace, flexibility, and security that the modern battlefield demands.
We look forward to continuing these conversations and building on the connections made at Farnborough as the UK defence landscape continues to evolve.
