PROJECT ZODIAC
Modern operations depend on trusted integration across platforms, domains and allied forces. The UK and its NATO partners need certified interoperability, resilient data movement and mission assurance that holds under contested conditions — not just in ideal environments. Roke helps ensure operational systems continue to perform where communications are degraded, systems are distributed, and decisions must remain trusted and assured.
Delivering a Sovereign, Coalition‑Ready Digital Backbone for the British Army
Project ZODIAC: From Concept to Operational Capability
Modern land warfare demands the ability to sense, understand, and act faster than an adversary, across domains, echelons, and allied formations. The British Army recognised that achieving this at scale required more than individual systems or point solutions. It required a sovereign, assured digital backbone capable of fusing intelligence, enabling decision advantage, and operating reliably in contested and degraded environments.
ZODIAC was Established as that Backbone.
As a programme of record within the Land ISTAR portfolio, ZODIAC underpins the Army’s contribution to the UK’s Digital Targeting Web (DTW) and provides an enduring integration layer for initiatives such as ASGARD – ensuring coherence, interoperability, and operational continuity across Defence.
At its core, ZODIAC exists to convert data into decisions at tempo -supporting Divisional and Corps‑level operations, enabling coalition integration, and sustaining the Army’s Fight by Recce‑Strike vision.
ZODIAC connects sensors, data, and effectors into a single, coherent operational capability – at the speed modern warfare demands.
The Army’s challenge was not a lack of sensors or data, but the absence of a trusted mechanism to integrate, assure, and exploit that information across formations and allies, at the right classification and with the necessary resilience.
ZODIAC was conceived to address this gap by providing
A deployable ISTAR capability or higher‑echelon command.
A sovereign data and integration layer under MOD control.
A coalition‑ready architecture able to ingest and share allied data securely.
A delivery approach capable of evolving at pace without sacrificing assurance.
Unlike approaches that consolidate capability into a single platform, Roke’s role is to enable integration across a diverse ecosystem of MOD, partner, and third-party technologies – enabling integration without constraint.
ZODIAC is therefore not just a system – it is an operational enabler and a foundational component of the Army’s digital transformation. ZODIAC operates as a system-of-systems, ensuring the Army can integrate, evolve, and replace capabilities as needed, without disrupting operations or limiting future choice.
This approach ensures the Army retains freedom of action over its digital architecture – able to adopt the best capabilities available, as they emerge.
HOW ZODIAC DELIVERS
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Continuous, iterative delivery
Through a secure Software Factory
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MODCloud‑hosted environments
Aligned to Defence security standards
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Open interfaces
And modular integration patterns
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Sovereign data control
And assured interoperability
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Multi-environment
Designed to operate across OpCIS and TacCIS environments
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Integration-first architecture
Designed to connect and evolve multiple systems and vendors as a integrated whole
Roke as Mission Partner and Delivery Authority
From the outset, the Army adopted a Mission Partner approach, placing trust, transparency, and shared intent at the centre of delivery. Within this model, Roke was selected as Managing Agent and System Integrator, accountable for orchestrating delivery, managing integration and assurance risk, and sustaining ZODIAC as an operational capability.
Rather than acting as a traditional systems supplier, Roke’s role has been to:
Hold end‑to‑end delivery accountability on behalf of MOD.
Integrate capability across a complex, brown‑field environment.
Operate and evolve the Software Factory in line with MOD governance.
Enable best-of-breed contributions from across the defence and technology ecosystem, integrating third-party and MOD-owned capabilities without constraining future choice or introducing vendor lock-in.
ROKE AS A TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATOR
Acting as a technology integrator, Roke combines proprietary capability, open architectures, and third-party solutions to deliver operationally effective outcomes, avoiding vendor lock-in while maintaining assurance and enabling continuous evolution.
This approach ensures that innovation can occur continuously, without fragmenting responsibility or re‑introducing integration risk.
Throughout delivery, Roke has carried the integration, assurance, and operational risk inherent in evolving a live digital capability. This has enabled the Army to iterate, integrate new capabilities, and scale ZODIAC without repeated resets, loss of momentum, or re‑accreditation cycles, protecting operational continuity while allowing change at pace.
ZODIAC has progressed through a structured delivery lifecycle focused on de‑risking, operational validation, and continuous improvement.
EARLY PHASES (ALPHA/BETA)
These phases established the core architectural principles – openness, modularity, survivability, and interoperability – and validated the feasibility of a sovereign Land digital backbone through close collaboration with Army users.
MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT (MVP) PHASE (2023–2025)
Under a £40m contract, Roke led delivery of an MVP capability and Software Factory, supported extensive user engagement, and executed a series of operational exercises. This phase culminated in major validation activity during Exercise WARFIGHTER 25‑4, where ZODIAC was used by UK and allied personnel to plan, integrate, and iterate in a live coalition environment.
PROTOTYPE BRIDGING CONTRACT (2025)
Subsequent investment (~£20m) sustained delivery momentum, enabling further software releases, additional exercises, and increased maturity in how the Authority owns and manages the ZODIAC backlog.
Throughout, Roke retained responsibility for:
Integrating new capabilities safely.
Managing assurance artefacts and evidence.
Maintaining operational stability while evolving functionality.
What ZODIAC Enables
ZODIAC is a modular, deployable ISTAR capability. Its value lies not only in what it connects today, but in its ability to integrate future capabilities without destabilising operations.
This reflects a deliberate design approach: enabling a federated, system-of-systems architecture, where new capabilities can be integrated rapidly without re-engineering the core.
ZODIAC enables the Army to:
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Fuse intelligence from UK and international sources
To create a shared operational picture at higher classifications.
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Automate elements of targeting and intelligence workflows,
Reducing cognitive burden and accelerating decision‑making
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Operate across deployed echelons
Supporting coherence between OpCIS and TacCIS environments
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Evolve safely over time
With MOD retaining control of data, interfaces, and architectural intent
What ZODIAC Has Achieved
ZODIAC has been validated through repeated operational exercises, demonstrating stability, scalability, and coalition relevance.
During Exercise WARFIGHTER 25‑4, ZODIAC:
Supported a significantly increased volume of structured data compared to previous exercises.
Enabled measurable reductions in manual effort through workflow automation.
Delivered sustained availability and reliability throughout the exercise period.
Demonstrated digital interoperability with US systems in a live operational context.
These outcomes reflect the effectiveness of a delivery model in which Roke retained integration authority and assurance accountability while enabling continuous contribution from partners.
“With ZODIAC we have an operational capability that truly enhances the Army’s effectiveness. This has been achieved through a genuine partnership between the Army and Roke, demonstrating what can be delivered when trust, accountability, and technical excellence come together.”
Brigadier Matt Birch
Senior Responsible Owner, Land ISTAR, British Army
The Future for Zodiac
ZODIAC demonstrates that:
Continuity of delivery authority matters in complex digital programmes.
Open, modular architectures enable evolution without loss of control.
Sovereign digital delivery at scale is achievable—and already proven.
Looking ahead, ZODIAC will continue to evolve as a long‑lived digital product, supporting new domains, deeper coalition integration, and future operational concepts. The delivery model established through ZODIAC is now informing how Defence approaches digital capability more broadly.
As ZODIAC transitions from exercise validation to sustained operational use, continuity of delivery authority becomes increasingly critical to maintaining assurance, coherence, and pace, ensuring that evolution does not reintroduce risk already retired through live delivery.
Roke remains committed to acting as a trusted Mission Partner – bringing the integration expertise, assurance discipline, and delivery leadership required to keep ZODIAC operational, adaptable, and future-ready.
DISCOVER TRUE MISSION PARTNERING
Do you want to avoid becoming operationally dependent on a single vendor ecosystem? Are you looking to design, deliver, or evolve digital capability at scale? Roke’s Defence team is ready to help – bringing proven experience in integration, assurance, and mission‑critical delivery.