The Ministry of Defence has issued an addendum notice for its Digital Decision Accelerators for Defence (DDAD) Open Framework, a procurement plan worth up to £900 million over four years.
According to the notice, “the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is launching a procurement for a new Defence and Security Open Framework specially designed to encourage the development, and accelerants of, advanced digital ‘Decision’ capabilities.”
The framework is described as a scheme of “successive frameworks” that can be reopened periodically for new suppliers, unlike traditional closed models. It will act as the main delivery mechanism for ASGARD, the British Army’s flagship Transformative Capability Initiative, linked to the Chief of the General Staff’s Growth Through Transformation strategy.
The MOD said the framework “will focus on the ‘Decide’ element of the target acquisition cycle (Sense-Decide-Effect); supporting ASGARD’s goal of reinventing, and transforming, how land forces deliver operational decision-support and decision-making software via the use of modern Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML) technologies.”
The framework is structured into five lots, each valued at £180 million:
- Data Integration – trusted datasets for critical operations.
- Accelerators – tools to cut “time-to-insight” with AI/ML models.
- Applications – rapid development of secure, scalable software.
- Edge Storage and Compute – real-time processing in distributed environments.
- Services – training, consulting, proof-of-concept development.
The notice stresses that the lots will be “suitable for Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to bid for.”
The MOD set out award criteria including “relevant experience and contract examples,” “product authenticity and maturity,” and commitments to collaboration, scalability, the Land Industrial Strategy, and R&D.
The framework is scheduled to run from November 2025 to November 2029, with possible extensions.