CleanTech & AI is the intelligence layer for the UK drone and autonomy sector. We plot funding flows, contract awards and engineering talent movement, then issue it as a dated, referenced sheet you can act on the same morning.
The Ministry of Defence awarded £3.16 million under the Low-Cost Air Defence Effectors programme. Three SMEs took the work, and all three are now scaling manufacturing capability in the UK.
Cycle one opened on 3 August and closes 27 August 2026, with further cycles planned through 2026 and 2027. Projects run to a maximum of twelve months.
We are building a live picture of specialist hiring demand, compensation bands and technical talent movement across drone, autonomy, robotics and advanced engineering employers.
Large platforms price SMEs out. News sites lack technical depth. We sit between the two: sector-specific, verified, and priced for companies that are actually scaling.
Continuous monitoring of UK defence innovation programmes, grant cycles and contract awards. You learn who won, how much, and what they will need to build next, before it reaches the trade press.
We plot where specialist engineers actually sit, which employers are leaking them, and what it costs to move them. Delivered as a redacted map, not a CV dump.
Structured profiles of UK drone, robotics and autonomy developers, covering technology focus, funding history, headcount trajectory and likely procurement route.
Every SME in this sector is fighting the same shortage. The ones that win know precisely which teams are unstable, what the going rate is, and which competitor just lost a lead engineer.
The engine is automated. The judgement is not. Every figure that leaves here has been checked against its primary public source.
Public-record sources are swept daily, including Companies House, GOV.UK, Find a Tender and UKDI.
Findings are matched against our developer database and cross-referenced with hiring activity.
Every figure passes a human check before it leaves the engine. In defence, an unverified number is worthless.
Intelligence is issued as a sheet: a dated, referenced briefing you can act on the same morning.
Briefings are issued to named contacts. Include your organisation and the capability area you care about, whether funding, talent or supply chain, and we will plot it.
