Arondite, the British defence technology company, has signed a multi-million pound contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to deploy its Cobalt software platform across the British Army’s Very High Readiness forces.
16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team are implementing Arondite’s Cobalt platform to enhance their operational effectiveness as they develop future warfighting capabilities that leverage the scaled use of sensors, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence.
The partnership between Arondite and 16 Air Assault Brigade is being delivered under the British Army’s RAPSTONE initiative – a new framework for rapid capability insertion into frontline forces – and represents a significant step forward in the Chief of the General Staff’s plan to double British Army lethality by 2027.
Cobalt is an end-to-end mission orchestration platform, revolutionising how operators design, plan and execute complex missions. The system integrates all the Brigade’s existing and future sensors and hardware platforms, applying AI-powered decision support systems that enable operators to make faster, better decisions.
Cobalt has been built to enable ‘autonomy-native’ command and control of the battlefield. The platform will enable 16 Air Assault Brigade to seamlessly integrate, test and deploy a wide range of autonomous platforms from different suppliers, including Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and One Way Effectors (OWEs) – driving rapid deployment of innovative new capabilities.
Arondite will serve as ‘mission partner’ to the Brigade, with deployed teams embedded within a number of units to integrate and validate Cobalt capabilities, across autonomous integration, electronic warfare and command and control. The company has already deployed on a range of international exercises with Brigade units and allied partners, to accelerate operational readiness and interoperability.
Will Blyth, Co-founder and CEO of Arondite said: “We are proud to support Brigadier Ed Cartwright and 16 Air Assault Brigade as the tip of the British Army’s spear. They rightly demand world-beating capabilities that are ready to deploy at scale and pace. We have built Cobalt for exactly this challenge. Unifying and accelerating every tool at the Army’s disposal helps make the Brigade more lethal on day one of the next conflict and helps keep them more adaptable than their adversaries.”
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard MP said: “This next-generation software will make our soldiers more lethal and enable rapid decisions on the battlefield, delivering on the warfighting readiness vision of the Strategic Defence Review. Our work with Arondite, a British start-up, shows that our record increase in defence spending is being seized as an opportunity to make defence an engine for growth in the UK.”
Arondite and RAPSTONE have been supported by Commercial X, a procurement team set up by the Ministry of Defence in 2022 to rapidly deliver ground-breaking technologies and innovation to defence users.
Founded by Will Blyth and Rob Underhill, Arondite brings together world-class engineering, AI and operational experience to help democracies harness autonomy, data, and AI at operational scale and with meaningful human control. The company raised a $12m seed round led by Index Ventures in May 2025.
As the UK’s designated ‘very high readiness’ formation, 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team are able to deploy units worldwide at 24 hours’ notice to respond to global crises. The Brigade is at the forefront of developing interoperability with the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and the French Army’s 11e Brigade Parachutiste. Recent operational deployments include the evacuation of Kabul in August 2022, delivering medical care in Turkey after the February 2023 earthquake, and the evacuation of Sudan in April 2023.