Defence Focus – Mersey Maritime Technology & Innovation Forum
By Paul Tallon (Innovation Manager – Mersey Maritime) and Simon Eardley (Head of Policy and Innovation – Mersey Maritime)
The fifth and final Technology & Innovation Forum (TIF5) of Mersey Maritime’s Navigating Maritime Innovation in the LCR project was hosted at HMS Eaglet in Liverpool in early February 2026, in collaboration with the Royal Navy, marking a significant and fitting conclusion to this year’s series. With a full defence takeover theme, the forum focused on the future resilience of the Port of Liverpool, onward logistics capability, vessel innovation, and the digital technologies required to futureproof maritime defence infrastructure.
The session brought together defence leaders, regional cluster representatives, academic innovators, and maritime stakeholders to examine how innovation can strengthen national resilience while accelerating capability deployment.
Defence Innovation and the UKDI Framework
We heard from Duncan Sime of UK Defence Innovation, who outlined a structured and strategic approach to engaging non-traditional suppliers into the defence ecosystem.
UKDI’s framework is built around four key pillars:
- FIND – Engaging innovators, including SMEs and non-traditional suppliers, across the UK and allied partners.
- GROW – Supporting both technology and business development, from early-stage readiness through to export capability.
- EXPLOIT – Delivering capability at pace into the hands of frontline users.
- PROVE – Coordinating the innovation system to ensure a single, clear pathway to operational deployment.
This model reflects a shift in defence procurement philosophy—recognising that agility, openness, and collaboration with industry are essential to maintaining sovereign capability and technological advantage.
Governmental and Regional Cluster Activity
The forum also featured contributions from Helen O’Rourke, Programme Manager for the North West Regional Defence & Security Cluster, who outlined upcoming regional pathways and strategic opportunities for defence-led growth across the North West.
We also heard from NWRDSC member Hexsor Scientific, who shared their journey in developing cleaner, safer, and more responsible technologies for both industrial and security applications. Their work demonstrated how dual-use innovation can bridge civil and defence markets while maintaining high standards of environmental and operational responsibility.
Academic Innovation: Advanced Signal Detection and Sovereign Capability
A particularly compelling session came from Professor Simon Maskell – University of Liverpool, who presented cutting-edge research into particle filtering for track-before-detect systems.
This technology has diverse defence applications, with particular relevance to maritime environments. The system enables detection and targeting of weak or obscured signals that may represent threats especially where adversaries attempt to spoof, mask, or counter-signal their own vibrational or electromagnetic signatures.
The approach discussed can:
- Identify objects attempting to disguise their presence
- Distinguish between genuine and spoofed signals
- Provide probabilistic insight into the nature of the detected object or threat
Importantly, these algorithmic advances are not confined to maritime use. They are being robustly deployed in near-Earth observation and satellite technologies, with the European Space Agency utilising this technology as developed by Professor Maskell and his team, demonstrating strong crossover between naval, space, and digital defence systems.
Open Forum Discussion: Procurement, Pace, and Strategic Competitiveness
The event concluded with an open forum discussion examining defence procurement challenges and the issues affecting the maritime sector more broadly.
Participants reflected candidly on:
- The time-to-implementation gap in defence acquisition
- The traditionally slow adoption of emerging technologies within a defence setting
- The need to streamline routes from innovation to operational capability
There was broad agreement that the frameworks presented, particularly those led by UKDI and regional cluster initiatives, represent meaningful steps toward accelerating delivery. In a rapidly evolving global landscape, It was felt by the group that increasing the pace of technological adoption is strategically necessary if the UK is to remain competitive, resilient, and defensible.
A Fitting Close to the TIF Series
Hosting TIF5 at HMS Eaglet provided a powerful backdrop for discussions centred on resilience, sovereignty, and maritime defence capability. The forum underscored the strength of the Mersey Maritime cluster not only in commercial innovation, but in its capacity to contribute meaningfully to national defence priorities clearly aligned with the emerging findings of our Navigating Maritime Innovation project database.
As the Technology & Innovation Forum series concludes, the message is clear: collaboration across industry, academia, government, and defence is essential to futureproofing both our maritime economy and our national security and the Liverpool City Region maritime sector has the capability and capacity to do so.
