Cutting-edge tactical communications equipment. This is how Government Commercial Agency (GCA) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) are partnering to keep British soldiers safe.

Published 8 October 2026

Last updated 8 October 2026

Faced with fast-changing technology and complex security requirements, the MOD and GCA combined their technical, commercial and legal expertise to create a brand new commercial agreement. This provided faster access to battlefield technology and directly supported our national security.

The challenge: complex tactical communications 

Modern combat operations depend on tactical communication networks for situational awareness, secure connectivity, and information dominance. The MOD needed an agile procurement model that could adapt to new technology, support innovation, and encourage a competitive supplier base to provide advanced equipment to armed forces personnel. 

Given the size and specialist nature of this challenge, the MOD recognised the need to work closely with the GCA. We combined our expertise to develop a unified strategy that would: 

  • align requirements
  • strengthen market engagement
  • provide faster capability upgrades and greater supplier competition
  •  improve value for money

The solution: procurement that moves at the speed defence demands 

In 2022, the MOD’s Tactical Systems delivery team and GCA began a proof-of-concept collaboration. They combined defence technical leadership with commercial expertise to create a specialist lot within the Network Services 3 framework.

To test the approach, the team initially trialled the solution as an independent lot within an existing agreement rather than establishing a standalone contract right away. The approach to start small before expanding built trust and confidence over time. This led to a strong working relationship and an official agreement in February 2025, formalising a broader partnership between GCA and the MOD’s Tactical Communication Systems Category team.

Find out more about how we worked with MOD in our video.

The outcome: a simpler, faster, better procurement solution

This multi-year collaboration resulted in the award of the RM6393 Tactical Communication Systems agreement in June 2026. The agreement is valued at up to £8 billion and has onboarded 100 suppliers, over half of them SMEs. This partnership has built a reliable and long-lasting procurement framework providing:

  • faster access to capability
  • greater supplier choice
  • enhanced innovation
  • better outcomes for defence and its partners

It has also secured better value for money for the taxpayer and created a repeatable model for collaborative procurement which is now being applied across other government agreements.

“Collaboration with GCA has unlocked for defence the ability to bring forward the best technologies, through the best companies onto a framework that allows us to deliver the best capabilities possible to allow our war fighters to win wars.” said Brigadier Lizzie Mortimer.

Mark Brownlee,  Deputy Head of Commercial for the National Armaments Director Group from MOD said: “GCA helped us at all stages, from the pre-procurement and framework design stage all the way through to our supplier engagement. Their procurement operations team did an excellent job in running the procurement for us. All of that was hugely appreciated.”

Making Britain safer: partnership built on purpose

This is what GCA exists to do: help public sector organisations procure simpler, better, faster, so they can focus on what they do best. In this case, that means giving the British Armed Forces the technology they need to operate safely, effectively, and with confidence and to protect British soldiers at home and abroad.

Find out more

Case study