The strategy centers on leading this transformation through a "focused, capital-efficient strategy centred on four technology pillars: Critical Infrastructure Defence, AI Agents for Defence Operations, Information & Influence Warfare, and Drone Warfare & Aggregation." The company projects a significant addressable software market, estimated to "exceed USD 90b by 2030 across our four pillars," driven by escalating global military spending and European sovereign-tech budgets. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is presented as a crucial "live testbed" validating the company's strategic focus and highlighting immediate revenue opportunities.

Key Themes and Main Ideas

Shift to Software-Defined, Data-Driven Defence:

The core premise of Defence Holdings' strategy is the recognition of a fundamental change in military capabilities. The white paper states: "The accelerating shift from hardware-centric defence to software-defined, data-driven capability is remaking the European security landscape." This shift underpins their focus on software-based solutions across their four technology pillars.

Four Core Technology Pillars:

The strategy is explicitly built around four interconnected technology areas, designed to address evolving security priorities:

• Critical Infrastructure Defence: Protecting essential services from kinetic and cyber threats.
• AI Agents for Defence Operations: Utilizing AI for planning, logistics, and digital twin simulations.
• Information & Influence Warfare: Countering disinformation and synthetic media.
• Drone Warfare & Aggregation: Developing advanced drone capabilities, particularly swarm coordination and modular AI payloads.

Significant Market Opportunity & Policy Drivers:

Global military spending is at an all-time high, reaching "USD 2.718 trillion in 2024," with a "9.4 % YoY increase and the steepest rise since 1988."

European funding mechanisms like the European Defence Fund (EDF) with a "€1.065 bn (2025 work-programme)" and EDIRPA (short-term procurement) are highlighted as key drivers for an "addressable software market that we estimate will exceed USD 90b by 2030 across our four pillars."

A "Digital Sovereignty Imperative" is identified, with "EU and UK policymakers increasingly demand[ing] indigenous IP and sovereign control over critical technologies."

Ukraine as a "Live Testbed" and Validation:

The conflict in Ukraine is central to the strategic rationale, described as "An Exemplar of 21st‑Century Multi‑Domain Warfare" and a "live testbed for the technologies and operational concepts central to Defence Holdings’ four pillars."

Specific "Lessons learned" from Ukraine directly inform Defence Holdings' strategic focus and highlight "near-term revenue opportunities":

Information & Influence Warfare: "Deep-fake detection must operate at nation-scale throughput (< 3 s latency) to counter real-time narrative shaping."

Drone Warfare & Aggregation: "Low-cost drones with modular AI payloads can neutralise high-value assets; resilient, encrypted swarm networks are critical under EW saturation." The destruction of "main battle tanks valued at > USD 4 m" by "< USD 20 k" FPV quadcopters illustrates "the asymmetric ROI of autonomous systems."

Critical Infrastructure Defence: "Targeting of Ukraine’s power grid underscores need for OT-digital twins and predictive anomaly detection."

AI Agents for Defence Operations: "Reinforcement-learned logistics models reduced Ukrainian front-line resupply times by > 25 %."

Escalating Global Conflict Landscape:

The strategic plan contextualizes its offerings against a backdrop of increasing global instability. "Recent data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) show a record 59 state-based armed conflicts in 2023, the highest number since the dataset began in 1946."

"Global conflict deaths ris[ing] to 170,700—a five-year high" in 2023 further emphasizes the urgent need for advanced defence capabilities.

Key "Regional Hotspots (2024-25)" are listed, including Sudan, Israel-Palestine, Myanmar, DRC, Haiti, Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine, which "collectively accounted for more than 60 % of all conflict deaths last year."

Important Ideas and Facts

Company Name: Defence Holdings PLC

Ticker: ALRT.LN

Strategic Focus: Four technology pillars: Critical Infrastructure Defence, AI Agents for Defence Operations, Information & Influence Warfare, and Drone Warfare & Aggregation.

Market Estimate: Addressable software market exceeding "USD 90b by 2030" across the four pillars.

Global Military Spending (2024): USD 2.718 trillion, a 9.4% YoY increase.

European Defence Fund (EDF) 2025: €1.065 billion.

Ukraine Conflict Statistics: 12,300 civilian deaths and >24,000 injuries (Feb 2022 - Jan 2025).

~71,000 battle deaths in 2023 (UCDP), making it the deadliest single conflict worldwide that year.

Infrastructure damage: USD 152 billion; reconstruction needs: USD 486 billion.

Drone Proliferation: FPV quadcopters (< USD 20k) destroying main battle tanks (> USD 4m).

Air & Missile Defence Saturation: Ukraine's largest aerial assault (May 24, 2025) involved 367 drones and missiles.

Information Operations: "900 % YoY rise in Ukraine-related synthetic media" (EU DisinfoLab).

Business Model Architecture: HoldCo (ALRT) for capital allocation and compliance, a Product Studio for dual-use modules, and a Buy-and-Build Programme for acquisitions.

Product Offerings:AI Agents: Pathfinder-L (logistics), Tactica-P (planning), Aegis-C (cyber defence), Sentinel-Duo (digital twin).

Information & Influence Warfare: Sentinel-Verify™ (multimodal authenticity engine), Counter-IA Ops Cell (managed service).

Critical Infrastructure Defence: OT-Guard™ (anomaly detection), Grid-Twin™ (digital twin simulation).

Drone Warfare & Aggregation: Mesh-Cloud™ SDK (encrypted P2P networking), Mission OS (orchestration), Edge AI Pods (real-time processing).

Five-Year Objectives (FY29/30): Revenue ≥ £130m; EBITDA ≥ 35%.

Competitive Landscape (Drone Warfare): Acknowledges Anduril (US Export Control) and Helsing (single national contracts) as competitors, positioning Defence Holdings with "Open-architecture + EU sovereignty."

Risk Matrix: Identifies regulatory export re-classification, adversarial AI attacks, and supply chain chip shortages as key risks, with outlined mitigations.

Conclusion

Defence Holdings PLC presents a clear and ambitious strategic plan, positioning itself at the forefront of the evolving defence technology landscape. By focusing on software-defined, data-driven solutions across four critical pillars and leveraging insights from current global conflicts, particularly Ukraine, the company aims to capture a significant portion of a rapidly expanding market driven by increased military spending and a demand for indigenous technological sovereignty in Europe. The outlined business model and implementation roadmap suggest a structured approach to achieve substantial growth and profitability by 2030.

Download the Defence Holdings PLC 5 Year Plan here: www.defenceplc.com/investors