MOD
Current portfolioLand Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition And Reconnaissance
Military Capability
Record date: 31 March 2026
- Whole-life cost
- £1.5bn
- Published schedule
- 25/01/2019 – 02/05/2033
- NISTA delivery confidence
- AMBER
- Senior responsible owner
- Matthew Birch
What the project is for
The Land Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Programme will deliver an adaptable, robust and agile system that will enable the Army to find the enemy at range in all operational environments. The bedrock of the system will be an open system architecture, designed to be fully integrated with current and future communications and information systems to enable digital integration across the Army, wider Defence, and our primary allies. This will enable a fully networked ISTAR system consisting of multiple sensors, that can be centrally commanded and coordinated. Automation will be used to speed up decision-making and reduce electronic emissions between component parts. The architecture, platforms and sensors required for the system will be developed and acquired separately, with a series of common standards ensuring that they remain compatible with the network.
Departmental delivery commentary
Compared to financial year 24/25 Q4, the NISTA/SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating at 25/26 Q4 increased to Amber. This is primarily due to the following factors. 1. Delivery of the SRO’s Get Well Plan, including work done by the Programme Design and Integration Office on a digital ecosystem within Defence. This progress was achieved despite challenges with workforce capacity in the delivery teams and the wider complexities within Defence. 2. The improvement on the previous year’s assessment and confirmed by the Dec 2025 NISTA Assurance Review.
Schedule
Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the programme's end-date at 25/26-Q4 remained the same at 31/12/2027.
Cost
Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) decreased from £1878.28M to £1622.50M This is primarily due to the following factors. 1. The Programme’s Whole Life Cost has reduced overall compared to 12 months ago. The reduction is driven primarily by Defence Board-approved requirement and scope changes, with costings removed in line with updated commissioning instructions. 2. Further decreases arise from reprofiling of assessment and delivery activity into later years due to approval and negotiation delays, incomplete achievement of system requirements, and delayed receipt of subcontractor software, resulting in Annual Budgeting Cycle impacts largely into Financial Year 26/27. 3. These reductions are partially offset by increases associated with updated Full Business Case 3 cost models using preferred bidder pricing, which has driven higher upfront support costs to enable accelerated Minimum Deployable Capability delivery, alongside minor revised estimates of cost for additional training requirements. 4. In addition, an underspend against forecast has been realised due to workforce control measures, particularly within ZODIAC RDEL, contributing to the overall reduction in Whole Life Cost. 5. Overall, movements reflect disciplined cost control, alignment to approved scope, and realistic reprofiling in line with delivery maturity.
Benefits
Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4; the projects departmentally agreed Benefits at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) remained at 0. This is primarily due to the fact that the benefits are not monetised.