D3IP Community Reaches Major Milestone on Previously Stalled Defence Challenge

D3IP, in collaboration with hpad, Inc. and Mission Decisions, has successfully tested operational prototypes that tackle a previously stalled Defence challenge, marking a significant step in the use of artificial intelligence to support defence capability management.

The FCCM initiative, delivered by D3IP through a partnership with Defence BattleLab under UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), explored the utilisation of AI and machine learning to support capability management while maintaining a ‘golden thread’ of traceability from strategic policy through to structured capability outputs.

FCCM is the Army’s structured way of ensuring that what it is expected to do is clearly and logically connected to the forces it needs and the capabilities those forces must have. Producing and maintaining this chain is currently a complex manual and time‑intensive activity, reliant on analysing large volumes of documentation and ensuring consistency across multiple layers of decision‑making.

Following a successful ‘Discovery’ phase to breakdown and refine the ask from Defence, as well as explore the art of the possible by utilising the expertise of the D3IP collaboration network, hpad, Inc. and Mission Decisions were invited to take part in the funded Incubate phase to test and experiment with their ideas.

Both partners successfully met the core objectives of the Incubate phase, with their prototype systems validating that AI‑enabled processes can reduce the substantial time and analytical burden currently associated with manual artefact production. The work also surfaced important additional insights that could significantly strengthen future force design activity.

FCCM is one of a series of D3IP initiatives that are delivered on behalf of public sector customers like the Defence BattleLab and are designed to tackle real-world operational challenges through structured discovery, experimentation, and rapid collaboration. These initiatives provide sponsored opportunities for industry to work directly with end users in secure, pre‑procured environments, generating evidence that matters to decision‑makers.

These initiatives are only open to D3IP’s collaboration network, so if you’re interested in getting involved, joining the D3IP Community is your route in.

About D3IP

D3IP works alongside government customers, industry, academic partners, and other interested organisations – such as policy makers and regulators – to deliver collaborative and novel solutions to challenges. Our operating model provides an opportunity to engage in research, development, and experimentation in a rapid and iterative environment.

We bring thought-leaders and capability developers together with customers at an early stage and maintain a collaborative approach throughout. This means research and experimentation can evolve and lessons can be learnt quickly to support iterative and agile development of solutions, delivered at pace.

About hpad, Inc.

We put an end to siloed and fragmented solutions to enterprise problems. We make it easy to see the big picture in spite of complexities in the enterprise  while lowering barriers to deploying AI in enterprises. We enrich Human-AI collaboration for employees, management, customers, partners, and other stakeholders.

About Mission Decisions

Built by operators and data scientists who understand the mission. Mission Decisions was founded by Data Science experts and former military operators, who grew tired of watching brilliant people waste time on repetitive analytical tasks. We combine deep operational credibility with genuine platform-grade AI expertise.

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