UK's Project Safari aims to ease SME access to test ranges

MoD Hebrides, the UK's largest test range and operated by QinetiQ, seen during Exercise Formidable Shield in 2025. (QinetiQ)

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and QinetiQ have launched Project Safari to simplify access to test and evaluation facilities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) developing military technologies.

Announced by the MoD on 10 October 2026, the initiative aims to reduce red tape and help companies bring new capabilities to the front line faster.

The UK government's 2025 Strategic Defence Review set out the aim to increase MoD spending with SMEs by GBP2.5 billion to GBP7.5 billion a year by summer 2028. The MoD's SME Action Plan, published on 21 July 2026, seeks to reduce barriers to defence business.

QinetiQ says Project Safari will address complexity and delays in accessing test facilities, including ranges it operates under its Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) with the UK MoD. The initiative is led by defence readiness and industry minister Luke Pollard. During a visit to MoD Hebrides, the UK's largest weapons test range, in October Pollard signed an agreement with QinetiQ for the first design stage of a multimillion-pound investment to develop the site to enable the testing of hypersonic missiles and other technologies. MoD Hebrides is one of 16 sites that QinetiQ operates under the LTPA.

The MoD and QinetiQ established Project Safari's principles and governance in July 2026. Nick Borbone, QinetiQ's director of test and evaluation transformation and Project Safari lead, told Janes that Pollard wanted to improve range access to get capabilities to the front line faster. “So we want to cut the red tape [and] ensure SMEs have clarity of process, while still making sure that we apply the appropriate level of regulation to assure safety.”