Project ZODIAC: RUSI

In today’s strategic environment, digital advantage is no longer optional. It’s essential. As General Sir Roly Walker, the Chief of the General Staff, made clear at RUSI Land Warfare Conference on 17th June, the British Army must evolve into a “more lethal land force, capable of operating over ever greater distances” – and that transformation depends on one core capability: the ability to connect sensors, data, and decision-makers in real time, accelerating how forces can detect threats and deliver effects. 

The Army’s land-based arsenal includes Challenger 3 tanks, Boxer infantry vehicles, Ajax scouts, long-range artillery, attack helicopters, and uncrewed aerial systems (UAS). While powerful, these heavy platforms are costly, slow to build, and increasingly exposed to cheap, nimble threats like drones – a vulnerability laid bare in Ukraine. 

The 2025 Strategic Defence Review and the Army’s 20-40-40 doctrine signal a sharp pivot. Just 20% of the future force will consist of traditional heavy platforms, while 80% will be unmanned or autonomous-capable.  

To mobilise a new approach, the UK government is investing £1bn in the Digital Targeting Web (DTW) – a battlefield operating system that delivers a new backbone for the Army’s real-time, horizontal data flow.  

At its core sits ZODIAC, Roke’s integrated Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) system, built to fuse live inputs from across the battlespace, translate them into mission-relevant views, and empower commanders to out-think and out-act their adversaries, shortening the time between identifying a target and delivering decisive action 

It is cloud-native, vendor-agnostic, and designed from the ground up for international integration. Its modular architecture, open APIs, and secure standards mean it can connect with coalition partners, defence primes, SMEs, and Five Eyes allies – without locking anyone out. In fact, the intellectual property is owned by the UK Ministry of Defence and hosted securely on MOD infrastructure, reinforcing ZODIAC’s role as a true mission platform rather than a proprietary system. ZODIAC also provides a robust platform for the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into the Army’s ISTAR processes, key to ensuring the UK rises to evolving threats.

ZODIAC has moved at operational tempo. In less than 18 months, it has gone from concept to deployed, battlefield capability.  

It’s a system that has already proven itself in live exercises, from divisional prep to Warfighter,  a fully trained and deployed capability—supporting UK-based tactical estimates through to 24-hour operations over a two-month period in the desert, demonstrating how a division can operate as part of a US Corps – the primary unit of currency within NATO – while updating a Recognised Intelligence Picture in real time using its own organic divisional assets.  

Over two months in desert conditions, ZODIAC demonstrated stability, resilience, and utility under pressure – accelerating complex decision-making timelines across formations and showing how integrated data can enable more dynamic “find and destroy” operations across dispersed units. 

This directly supports the SDR’s call for a more “integrated force” and reflects the Army’s modernisation imperative: to “digitise deeper and wider than we’re doing at the moment.” 

Plus, it’s already evolving in use. Based on continuous feedback from the field, new automation logic, interface upgrades, and role-specific features have been deployed within 72 hours – enhancing operational outcomes without re-engineering the core. This agility is critical. Because as the conflict landscape changes, so must the tools we rely on to win it. 

ZODIAC exemplifies what the CGS called “Growth Through Transformation”: a capability that doesn’t just meet mission need but helps define what modern land power looks like. From the Corps level down to the tactical edge, it is enabling the British Army to fight at the speed of relevance – and to build integration into every echelon creating a flexible foundation for faster targeting, more precise effects, and a fully connected force. 

As the Army prepares for Ex STDE27 and beyond, systems like ZODIAC won’t just support operations, they will drive them. Because in today’s fight, the ability to think fast, decide clearly, and act together is not a support function. It’s decisive.