Innovate UK is offering contracts of up to £80k to organisations whose technology can spot and track drones before they drop contraband into UK prisons.
This Contracts for Innovation competition sits within UKRI's Safer Streets Mission. There's £900k available, split across 11 to 22 contracts, and winners will put a working prototype through independent testing at a UK test facility in March 2027.
Below, I have explained the key things you need to know about this competition before you apply: who is eligible, how much funding is on the table, and what the application process looks like.
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Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
You can lead a project as an organisation of any size, including organisations based in the EU, EEA or elsewhere internationally. You can work alone or bring in specialist skills and expertise as subcontractors from:
- Businesses
- Research and technology organisations (RTOs)
- Research organisations
- The third sector
The contract goes to a single legal entity, and you must deliver the majority of the work and the key deliverables yourself.
Your Project
Your project must:
- Have total costs of between £40k and £80k, including VAT
- Last two months, starting on 1 February 2027
Most of the work must be carried out in the UK, and most of the contract value must be spent here.
Your project must also:
- Adopt SAPIENT architecture and connectivity
- Autonomously detect and track a wide range of drones as, or shortly before, they cross the prison perimeter
- Avoid interfering with legitimate communications equipment
- Be at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 or above
- Be easy to install and quick to deploy
- Be rugged enough to cope with outdoor use in all weathers
- Deliver a working prototype ready for independent testing in March 2027
- Need minimal training and little or no input from prison staff
- Send real-time alerts to prison staff
Innovate UK is particularly keen on solutions that come with their own non-kinetic countermeasures. It won't fund projects that:
- Are not autonomous
- Are overly complex to set up, install, maintain or calibrate
- Focus solely on radio frequency (RF) detection
- Sit below TRL 6
- Use any form of kinetic defence
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
This is a Contract for Innovation rather than a grant, so it covers all of your eligible costs instead of a percentage based on your organisation's size.
Individual contracts range from £40k to £80k, including VAT.
Funding Example
If your eligible project costs come to £80k including VAT, your contract will be worth the full £80k. Unlike a grant, you won't need to find match funding. Innovate UK pays monthly in arrears when you invoice at the end of each monitoring period. Your costs must reflect actual costs at a fair market value and can't include profit, and at least half of the contract value must go directly on R&D.
Applying as a Non-Commercial Organisation
Because each contract goes to a single legal entity, there's no partnership split like you'd find in a grant competition. Research organisations, RTOs and third sector bodies can support a project as subcontractors, bringing in specialist skills and expertise.
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 28 October 2026.
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into four sections:
Project Details
- Applicant location and subcontractor details
- How you heard about the competition
- Project and scope summary
- Project title, start date and duration
- Public description of the project
- Your organisation's age and main focus
Most answers in this section are limited to 400 words.
Application Questions
There are 13 questions in total:
- Six unscored questions covering technology type, animal testing, permits and licences, international collaboration, export licences and Trusted Research and Innovation
- Seven scored questions covering your proposed technology, technical summary, the state of the art and IP, project plan, team, costs and value for money, and commercial potential
You can include appendices (PDFs of up to two A4 pages) for the proposed idea, project plan and costs questions.
Finances
Here, you enter your project costs excluding VAT, confirm your VAT status and set out your milestone payments.
Project Impact
This section isn't scored, but you must complete it before you can submit, and it gives background on the wider impact of your project.
Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors. Their individual scores will be combined to determine your final result.
If you're successful, you'll be notified by 15 December 2026. You'll then need to bring your solution to a UK test facility for up to four days in March 2027 and attend a showcase event in April 2027.
Like with most competitions, Innovate UK takes a 'portfolio approach' by funding projects across different technologies, markets and technological maturities. This means that a strong score won't necessarily guarantee that your application will be successful.
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