Economy 4.0

In a world where a keystroke can plunge a city into darkness or poison its water supply, the threat of war is no longer confined to trenches and tanks. From satellites to cyberattacks, nations today must fight on both physical and virtual fronts.

The war in Ukraine has shown us that the face of war is changing. In today’s digital battlespace, speed, precision and information dominance matter more than ever. Drones are helping strike high-value targets, electromagnetic warfare is quietly disabling systems before the first shot is fired, while missile defence relies increasingly on AI-powered sensors to track and intercept threats in real time.

This all means that how adversaries attack – from the weapons and technology they use to the tactics they deploy – is evolving at a rapid pace. War is no longer about who has the most weapons or soldiers. Digitalisation has transformed the battlefield, and with new technologies enemies are now ‘smarter’ than ever before.  In a world of accelerating threats, innovation is becoming the first line of defence — essential to protecting people, businesses, and troops, and ultimately saving lives.

To help the UK and its allies meet this challenge, Roke, a British company that stands at the forefront of defence and security, emerges as a vital ‘mission partner.’  For almost 70 years the company has created innovations that have kept troops and the general public safe. Now its team of scientists, veterans, engineers, and intelligence professionals are not just aiming to imagine the future of warfare, national resilience, and public safety, but build it. They aim to move fast, solving today’s most pressing security challenges, like drones, quantum and AI, while shaping the battlefield of tomorrow.

Innovation is now mission critical

With NATO agreeing to increase spend on defence, world leaders recognise the need to bolster the frontline. However, the wars of the future won’t be won by firepower alone. Rather, the race is on for technological superiority.

In this environment, innovation isn’t optional. It’s essential. The UK Armed Forces and its allies must constantly adapt, because our adversaries are doing exactly that.  That’s why ‘mission partners’ from the private sector are now a critical part of modern defence. These partnerships allow the military to innovate at speed and scale with trusted suppliers.

Roke has already shown the value of such partnerships, from participating in the UK’s missile defence research, through the Science & Technology Oriented Research and development in Missile defence (STORM) project, to spearheading a major British army modernisation project called ZODIAC.  ZODIAC has already shown off its potential, with the British Army showcasing its capabilities in a recent warfighting exercise with the US and other allies.

These war development exercises show the importance of a trusted Mission Partner and the ability to innovate at pace on the battlefield.

Going forward, exercises like this will be central to closing the gap between emerging threats and the capabilities allied forces need. It accelerates prototyping and realistic trials, ensuring new concepts are tested and proven before wider rollout. Readiness is underpinned by a strong and resilient defence industrial base. It ensures the UK can respond quickly, at scale and with credibility.

Defending the economy in the age of quantum

It’s not just the frontline where innovation is necessary.  The changing face of warfare is reshaping national security too. Adversaries are using technologies from the battlefield to try and hack businesses or even cripple national infrastructure. And, with the age of quantum computing just around the corner this threat is multiplied, meaning that war becomes a very real threat to the economy.

Roke is already working with allied forces and businesses to ensure they are ready for the quantum hacker. And while it may seem an issue that’s not yet tangible, it’s a very real threat right now. In 2025, enemy groups are hacking sensitive data  that modern computers can’t decrypt – with the aim of sitting on it and waiting, potentially years, until quantum computing is advanced enough to decrypt this treasure trove of information, that could include state secrets, sensitive corporate details or even personal data from members of the public.

It’s exactly this kind of threat that shows why the UK and its allies are in a race to out-innovate the enemy, and why they must move rapidly to ensure the public, businesses and troops are protected from current and future threats.