UK Defence Innovation has launched a £1.85 million competition to counter illegal UAS being used around prisons and other sensitive sites.

The ‘Countering illegal use of UAS around prisons and sensitive sites’ competition is being run on behalf of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the Home Office, Police, Innovate UK, Ministry of Defence (MOD) and wider UK security stakeholders.

Practical, low‑collateral technologies are being sought that could stop hostile drones once they breach secure prison airspace.

Up to £1.85 million (excluding VAT) is available, with funding expected to support several projects across two challenge areas. Challenge 1 is for higher readiness solutions and Challenge 2 is for medium-readiness concepts.

Criminal groups are increasingly using drones to deliver contraband into prisons, carry out surveillance and disrupt operations. The drones are cheap and easy to use, but also difficult to stop.

Traditional counter‑drone methods, such as kinetic interceptors or wide‑area jamming, are often unsuitable in custodial and urban environments, as they can carry unacceptable risks to people, infrastructure and communications.

The competition is looking for solutions that act as a last line of defence once a drone has entered a secure area; can be used within the powers available to prison officers; and neutralise drones with minimal risk to people, buildings and communications.

The solutions also need to be safe to use in prisons, urban areas and near critical national infrastructure; able to be deployed quickly by a small team, without specialist training; and must be legally and ethically compliant, with clear consideration of operational constraints.