Dr Ewan Kirk has been appointed the MOD’s new Director Innovation.
He will lead UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), part of the newly designed National Armaments (NA) Innovation area which sits under Director General Innovation Anthony Reeves.
NA Innovation brings together some 4,800 experts and scientists in UKDI, the Defence Investment Unit, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the Defence Uncrewed Systems Centre (DUSC). It has a ringfenced £1.6 billion defence innovation budget over the next four years (UKDI), as well as supporting £2.1 billion of investment in core science and technology.
Led by Dr Kirk, UKDI will support the NAD Group’s commitments under the Strategic Defence Review, including delivering innovative capability at rapid pace and creating economic growth through increased production, export opportunities and jobs, while ensuring innovation remains at the heart of UK military capability.
With UKDI being the single point of contact for industry to engage with defence on innovation challenges and opportunities, Dr Kirk will build relationships with the UK’s technology sector, venture capitalists and private equity investors.
He will also work with academia and international partners, including NATO allies. His other responsibilities will include fostering close relations on innovation and capability development with the Front-Line Commands’ Rapid Capabilities Offices such as Rapstone, NavyX and others.
Rupert Pearce, the National Armaments Director, said:
Ewan’s appointment is a significant step in making innovation central to how Defence delivers for our Armed Forces, one of the pillars of the SDR. UKDI gives industry, investors and academia a single front door to work with us, and Ewan has the scientific depth and commercial experience to make that real.
If we can leverage the extraordinary inventiveness of the UK economy, Defence can gain sustained capability advantage over its adversaries, providing us with enhanced deterrence.
Working alongside Anthony Reeves and the wider National Armaments Innovation team, Ewan will help us deliver innovative defence capability quickly, keep our Armed Forces ahead of their adversaries and turn defence innovation into jobs, exports and growth across the UK.
Dr Kirk is currently a Non-Executive Director of BAE Systems, Chairman of DeepTech Labs and Chairman of the Management Committee of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
Commenting on his appointment, Dr Kirk said:
Innovation thrives when the best ideas can move quickly from the lab to the front line. I’m delighted to join the National Armaments Group and look forward to working with Rupert, with Anthony Reeves, the UK’s technology sector, investors, academia and our NATO allies to bring cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence and cyber, into military service as quickly we can.
Since UKDI was formed in early 2025, John Cunningham has led the organisation as interim director, building UKDI from a concept into an operational organisation embedded within the NAD Group.
During this time, UKDI has delivered innovative capability to the front line, strengthened the national innovation ecosystem across all stakeholders, built a portfolio of exciting projects and created the strong foundations for UKDI’s next phase of growth and impact.
This appointment of the new UKDI Director directly supports the UK Armed Forces, keeping their war-fighting advantage while promoting national prosperity through defence and dual-use technologies, such as artificial intelligence and cyber, and through private investment.