Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made on the Land Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance programme.

The Land Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) programme will deliver a suite of new sensor systems and enable a digitalised Army, by fusing data sources and ensuring capacity for effective and faster decision-making. At the core of the programme is project ZODIAC, which will provide the digital infrastructure required to network our sensors into a fused intelligence picture that is displayed across the network and automate our intelligence collection and analytical processes.

The ZODIAC Minimum Viable Product was delivered to 3 (UK) Division in 2024. Following a period of continuous development, enabled by the agile nature of the project, it will deliver the backbone of the Divisional ISTAR system for the forthcoming Warfighter Exercise in the US in May 2025.

The TIQUILA project will provide a new Uncrewed Air System (UAS) to support Brigade and Divisional Operations. It has now achieved its Initial Operating Capability, delivering three trained and equipped detachments into the Joint Aviation Command (JAC). TIQUILA is on schedule to reach Full Operating Capability by mid-2026, which will deliver a further 21 detachments that are fully integrated into the ZODIAC system.

Under TIQUILA's spiral upgrade programme, platforms will be fitted with resilient hardware and Long-Range Antennas, enabling them to operate in Global Navigation Satellite Systems-denied environments with greater reach.