UK government launches secretive technology research agency

The Advanced Research & Invention Agency (ARIA), backed by £800 million, will be led by prominent, world-leading scientists who will be given the freedom to identify and fund transformational science and technology at speed.

The new agency hopes to cement the UK’s position as a global science superpower, while shaping the country’s efforts to build back better through innovation.

ARIA will be based on models that have proved successful in other countries, in particular influential US agency, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This was instrumental in creating transformational technologies such as the internet and GPS, as well as the first stealth combat aircraft pictured above.

Most recently the agency is developing an air-launched drone that can fire multiple air-to-air missiles. The agency has awarded contracts to General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman for preliminary Phase I design work for the ‘LongShot’ programme.

Sir Jim McDonald, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, commented on the announcement: “We are delighted to see the government deliver on its commitment to a high-risk high-reward funding agency. I hope this ambitious new funding mechanism will help to unlock radical innovation and enable step changes in technology that provides value for our economy and society at large. Engineering is central to an ambitious innovation agency of this kind, forming the bridge between research and innovation to enable technological and commercial breakthroughs.”

Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, added: “The UK has always been an innovative nation but has struggled to turn many ideas in to commercial reality with government and investors too risk averse to take on many projects. This new agency will provide a welcome boost towards seizing the opportunities that science and technological breakthroughs are already providing and which will be critical to solving the many societal challenges we face.

“Government must now build on this by in tandem reforming and boosting the R&D Tax Credit, in particular including capital expenditure. Together these measures should help turbocharge the UK’s science and innovation performance.”

Matthew Fell, CBI UK chief policy director, said: "ARIA will create new opportunities for high-risk, high-reward research. As world leaders in R&D and home to the brightest and best scientists, the UK has a unique opportunity to play to its strength with this new agency, to help create jobs, raise productivity and tackle the biggest challenges facing our country such as net-zero. Key to ARIA’s success will be strong business engagement to make sure the brilliant ideas developed can make it through to market.

"This a prime chance for business, government and the research and innovation community to work together and turn ambitions into realities. And coalesce around an shared economic vision for the next decade in which innovation will be at the heart of it. The CBI looks forward to engaging with the government as it looks to develop its proposals further."

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