The ministry of defence and Palantir signed a strategic partnership on 18 September 2025 intended to drive defence innovation and investment in the UK. The deal commits Palantir to invest up to £1.5bn and to make London the base for its European defence business. The company has announced plans to expand its UK workforce by up to 200 staff and to support the creation of up to 150 additional roles across the wider UK defence technology sector, amounting to as many as 350 new high-skilled jobs.
Under the agreement Palantir and the UK military will develop Artificial Intelligence-powered capabilities that the government says have been tested on the battlefield in Ukraine. Work will focus on accelerating decision making, military planning and targeting by fusing a wide range of open source and military data. Some programmes will support elements of the so-called kill chain and the government’s Digital Targeting Web, with an aim to deliver faster options for commanders and to enhance targeting, intelligence and decision support systems.
The partnership includes commercial and supply chain commitments to grow British defence tech companies. Palantir will mentor UK small and medium enterprises and other Artificial Intelligence businesses, including support to expand into US markets and a pro bono offering for certain firms. The government says the arrangement could identify opportunities with UK Defence worth up to £750m over the next five years. Palantir will also provide technical support for software deployment within the ministry, help UK-developed software access international markets, and back the implementation of the Defence Digital and Data Strategy to make the ministry more data-centric while maintaining data sovereignty. The announcement is presented as building on the Tech Prosperity Deal between the United States and the UK.
