Defence Holdings shares surged on Thursday after the software-led defence company announced it will showcase its inaugural AI product at DSEI 2025.
The real driver of shares on Thursday is that the technology is already in active development for the UK Ministry of Defence.
Defence Holdings shares were 20% higher at the time of writing.
The product is the creation of Defence Technologies, a partnership between Defence Holdings and Whitespace Global, a British deep-tech specialist in AI infrastructure for defence and national security.
Defence Holdings and Whitespace Global are collaborating with one of the world’s “Magnificent 7” technology giants on the product, with engineers from both Whitespace and the unnamed hyperscale partner working together to integrate cloud infrastructure designed specifically for AI workloads directly into the build.
“Our first product proves that Defence Holdings can move faster than the traditional defence cycle and from vision to operational capability in record time,” said Andrew McCartney, Chief Technology Officer of Defence Holdings.
“Through Defence Technologies, we are embedding sovereign AI into the heart of defence where it matters most. The scale of what we can deliver, secure, deployable software that can run at the tempo of modern operations, sets a new benchmark for UK defence.”
The partnership with the hyperscaler positions Defence Technologies amongst the few emerging defence platforms capable of operating at the same scale as established tech suppliers and underpins the progress the company has made in a short period.
It is also a massive validation of Defence Holdings’ ‘Five-Year Strategic Plan’ set out when the group transitioned from an e-sports firm to defence earlier this year.