gov.uk/government/organisations/defence-and-security-acceleratorDASA (Defence & Security Accelerator) runs thematic Open Calls to fund innovative defence AI / cyber / data science projects. The Open Call: AI for Defence (2026 Q3) targets sovereign AI capabilities aligned with MOD's "Defence AI Strategy 2025-2030" priorities:
DEFONEOS's sovereign weight family (SOV3-small, SOV3-large, Liquid-KAN-MoE) maps directly to 5 of 7 Open Call themes. This pack is the reusable author template for any of the 5 themes.
| § | Section | Annex Q control(s) | DSP SC2 control | Word target | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Executive summary | Q1 (strategic fit) | — | 200 | CEO |
| 2 | The defence problem (MOD pain) | Q2 (problem definition) | — | 400 | VP Commercial |
| 3 | DEFONEOS proposed solution | Q3-Q4 (solution + innovation) | — | 600 | CTO + ML Platform Lead |
| 4 | Sovereignty & assurance posture | Q5 (sovereignty) | SC2-1 SC clearance readiness | 400 | CISO + Compliance Director |
| 5 | Delivery plan (90-day pilot → 12-month scale) | Q6-Q7 (plan + milestones) | SC2-2 PMO readiness | 500 | VP Customer Success |
| 6 | Team & organisation | Q8 (team) | SC2-3 Org chart | 300 | CEO + HR |
| 7 | Cost & value for money | Q9-Q10 (cost + VfM) | SC2-4 Financial standing | 400 | CFO |
| 8 | Risk register & mitigations | Q11-Q12 (risks) | SC2-5 Risk framework | 400 | CISO |
| 9 | Compliance & ethics | Q13-Q15 (compliance + ethics + sustainability) | SC2-6 ESG · SC2-7 Cyber Essentials · SC2-8 ISO 27001 · SC2-9 Modern Slavery Act | 400 | Compliance Director + GC |
Total bid: ~3,600 words across 9 sections. Submission SLA 14 BD from complete draft to submission.
| Q# | Control | DEFONEOS evidence | Score (1-5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Strategic fit with MOD AI Strategy | Section 1 + uk-sovereign-pitch.html | 5 |
| Q2 | Problem definition clarity | Section 2 + 1 buyer pilot reference | 5 |
| Q3 | Solution technical credibility | Section 3 + ai-bom-sbom-card.html | 5 |
| Q4 | Innovation / differentiation | Section 3 + sovereign weights + BFT council | 5 |
| Q5 | Sovereignty posture | Section 4 + seal-certification-spec.html | 5 |
| Q6 | Delivery plan realism | Section 5 + 90-day-sovereign-pilot-sow.html | 5 |
| Q7 | Milestone measurability | Section 5 + 4 KPIs per pilot SOW | 5 |
| Q8 | Team strength + SC clearance posture | Section 6 + defoneos-sc-clearance.html | 3 (SC clearance in progress) |
| Q9 | Cost realism | Section 7 + market-tested rates | 5 |
| Q10 | Value for money | Section 7 + treasury-cost-benefit.html (HM-Treasury Green Book) | 5 |
| Q11 | Technical risk register | Section 8 + per-component risk scoring | 5 |
| Q12 | Commercial risk register | Section 8 + 12 named primes (consortium) | 5 |
| Q13 | Compliance (UK GDPR + AI Act + AISI) | Section 9 + fria-template.html | 5 |
| Q14 | Ethics + Charter rights | Section 9 + Charter screening | 5 |
| Q15 | Sustainability + ESG | Section 9 + environmental cost disclosure | 5 |
Total: 73/75 (97%). Q8 carries a 3 (SC clearance in progress — owner action pending; guide at defoneos-sc-clearance.html).
DEFONEOS UK Ltd UK 16939677 must achieve 9-of-9 DSP SC2 controls to bid as prime on DASA Open Calls. Status (live):
| SC2 # | Control | Status | Owner action |
|---|---|---|---|
| SC2-1 | SC clearance readiness (BPSS+ for participants) | ⏳ IN PROGRESS | Nick initiates UK SC clearance |
| SC2-2 | PMO readiness (PRINCE2 / MSP / PMP qualified) | ✅ | — |
| SC2-3 | Org chart + governance | ✅ | — |
| SC2-4 | Financial standing (£250k+ working capital) | ✅ | — |
| SC2-5 | Risk management framework | ✅ | — |
| SC2-6 | ESG (modern slavery + carbon + DEI) | ✅ | — |
| SC2-7 | Cyber Essentials (Plus recommended) | ⏳ FILED T73 · awaiting IASME assessment | — |
| SC2-8 | ISO 27001 (or equivalent) | ✅ (via cross-walk to ai-bom-sbom-card.html) | — |
| SC2-9 | Modern Slavery Act compliance | ✅ (UK Companies Act 2015 §54) | — |
7/9 confirmed. 2/9 pending (SC2-1 = SC clearance, SC2-7 = Cyber Essentials assessment). Both have remediation paths; both are owner-gated or in-progress.
Each bid is stored in a per-buyer vault with:
| Theme | DEFONEOS bid focus | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Frontier AI safety + assurance | DEFONEOS-SEAL credential (per seal-certification-spec.html) + 33-agent BFT council issuance | £150k – £1.5M |
| 2. Sovereign inference infrastructure | SOV3-small + SOV3-large sovereign weights + Mac M2/4 inference + air-gap option | £100k – £1M |
| 3. Multi-domain decision support | Liquid-KAN-MoE + BFT council + 90-day pilot SOW | £250k – £1.5M |
| 4. Cyber-AI integration | DEFONEOS zero-trust architecture + AI-BOM + PMS (per zero-trust) | £200k – £1.2M |
| 5. AI for logistics + sustainment | SOV3-large fine-tuned for MOD logistics data + ESG reporting | £100k – £800k |
| Outcome | SLA | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledgement + tracking | 5 BD | Acknowledge to DEFONEOS Vault + assign DASA bid manager |
| Clarification requests | Per DASA review board | DEFONEOS responds within 5 BD each |
| Phase 1 award (feasibility) | 8-12 weeks post-submission | DEFONEOS signs contract + launches 6-month Phase 1 |
| Phase 2 invitation | End of Phase 1 | DEFONEOS submits Phase 2 bid (full development) |
| Decline | 8-12 weeks post-submission | DEFONEOS requests debrief + may resubmit next cycle |
| Bid section | Source |
|---|---|
| Strategic pitch | defoneos-mod-uk-sovereign-pitch.html |
| Solution architecture | defoneos-mod-ai-bom-sbom-card.html |
| Sovereignty posture | defoneos-mod-seal-certification-spec.html |
| Pilot SOW | defoneos-mod-90-day-sovereign-pilot-sow.html |
| Treasury CBA | defoneos-mod-treasury-cost-benefit.html |
| FRIA | defoneos-mod-fria-template.html |
| Insurance | defoneos-mod-insurance-liability-bridge.html |
| SC clearance guide | defoneos-sc-clearance.html |
curl https://csoai.org/defoneos-mod-dasa-bid-author-pack.html | shasum -a 256csoai.org/dasa/template.docxcommercial@csoai.orgdefoneos-mod-uk-sovereign-pitch.htmlcsoai.org/advisories/subscribecommercial@csoai.org