Defence Holdings Announce New National Security Pillar & Strategic Collaboration with Gloucestershire Police
Summary by AI BETAClose X
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
30 December 2025
London, UK
Defence Holdings PLC
(“Defence Holdings” or the “Company”)
Defence Holdings Announce New National Security Pillar & Strategic Collaboration with Gloucestershire Police
Defence Holdings PLC
(LSE: ALRT),
the UK-listed sovereign defence software company, announces the launch of it’s national security executional pillar through
its technology division, Defence Technologies. This pillar
focuses on the application of sovereign AI to domestic security and resilience and directly addresses the priorities set out in the UK Strategic Defence Review.
As part of this launch Defence Technologies can also announce the first collaboration/project under this pillar, a strategic collaboration with Gloucestershire Police to deliver a Proof-of-Value (PoV1) programme for AI-enabled automation of ROVI (Record of Video Interview) and ROTI (Record of Taped Interview) reporting.
The PoV will apply sovereign AI to convert unstructured PACE-governed interview data into structured digital summaries and reports, with the objective of demonstrating measurable improvements in speed, consistency and workflow efficiency versus existing methods. PoV1 will establish performance benchmarks and validate operational suitability, with a proposed second phase expected to assess evidential-grade accuracy and requirements for broader rollout in the Spring of 2026, together providing a clear pathway to operational deployment, subject to successful evaluation and approvals.
Strategic Importance
Automated production of interview documentation is a long-standing unmet need across UK policing. ROTI and ROVI reports are essential to the Criminal Justice System yet consume tens of thousands of officer-hours each year, making them one of policing’s most resource-intensive administrative tasks. Demand continues to rise and interview recordings now generate thousands of hours of unstructured audio each week, all requiring manual review and conversion into case-ready material.
This creates slower case progression, high administrative burden, inconsistent evidential quality and delays in disclosure. Even modest efficiency gains would deliver material productivity benefits nationally.
Demonstrating sovereign AI performance here represents a significant modernisation opportunity for UK policing improving case throughput, strengthening evidential standards and freeing officer capacity while establishing a pathway for scalable deployment across policing and national security missions.
Commercial Opportunity
The capability has clear potential for wider deployment across UK policing, where the need to rapidly transform human-generated information into structured evidence is both consistent and growing. It establishes the foundation for a repeatable, nationally relevant product model.
The same core technology is directly applicable to defence and national security missions, where accelerating the movement from raw narrative to actionable intelligence is a strategic priority. This PoV is the first step in a scalable commercial pathway for Defence Technologies, aligned with the UK’s drive to strengthen information advantage across national security operations.
This work aligns directly with the UK’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR25) focus on information advantage and supports Defence Holdings’ five-year plan to deliver sovereign, cross-domain AI capabilities that strengthen national security infrastructure.
The programme is supported by Defence Holdings as part of its sovereign AI investment strategy. Gloucestershire Police will provide workflow insight and explore controlled data access to enable evaluation. Delivery is commencing immediately.
Maggie Blyth, Chief Constable, Gloucestershire Police, said:
“We are pleased to collaborate on this initiative. If reliable automation can maintain the accuracy and structure required under PACE, it has the potential to unlock operational value for policing and the wider justice system.”
Andy McCartney, CTO, Defence Holdings PLC, said:
“By applying sovereign AI to high-volume evidential workflows, we aim to free officer time and improve the consistency of interview documentation. If successful, the capability we develop here could provide a foundation for scalable deployment across policing, defence and national security operations.
We are delighted to launch this work as a dedicated National Security executional pillar within Defence Technologies, and to be collaborating with Gloucestershire Police as the first operational partner in validating this capability.”
Andrew Webber, Chief Partnerships Officer, Defence Technologies
said:
“We are pleased to partner with Gloucestershire Constabulary on this Proof-of-Value programme. Instigated by Microsoft UK, this opportunity allows for a truly collaborative, co-design and co-development approach with the Glos Police team. This ensures we deliver a capability that precisely addresses their needs, promising significant productivity enhancements and reduced cognitive load for police officers.”
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