The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has chosen Red Hat to design a unified artificial intelligence and hybrid cloud foundation across its operations, marking a significant step in the department’s digital transformation.
Announced today, the agreement aims to eliminate long-standing data silos and enable faster deployment of AI models, from central data centres to frontline environments. The move reflects a broader shift within large organisations away from isolated AI pilot projects and toward a more structured, platform-based approach.
A Single AI Backbone Across Defence
At the heart of the initiative is the MOD’s Defence Digital Foundry, its central software delivery hub. Under the new agreement, the Foundry will offer a standardised MLOps environment to all service branches, including the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.
The MOD plans to standardise on Red Hat’s infrastructure to decouple AI development from specific hardware. In practical terms, that means algorithms can be built once and deployed anywhere, whether on-premise, in public or private clouds, or on field devices operating in disconnected or bandwidth-limited conditions.
This flexibility is considered critical in defence settings, where computing environments vary widely. By creating a consistent platform, the MOD intends to reduce duplication across programmes and make it easier to scale successful AI applications.
Mivy James, Chief Technology Officer at the UK MOD, said that streamlined access to Red Hat platforms is especially important in the AI era, where rapid adoption, shared best practice and scalability can deliver strategic advantages.
Addressing the AI “Inference Gap”
The deployment centres on Red Hat AI, including Red Hat OpenShift AI. The platform is designed to bridge what many organisations describe as the “inference gap” — the disconnect between data science teams building AI models and the operational infrastructure needed to run them reliably.
With a unified environment, MOD developers will be able to collaborate on a single platform while selecting the most appropriate AI models and hardware accelerators for mission-specific needs. The approach avoids locking the department into one vendor’s ecosystem.
Optimised inference capabilities are also a key focus. In military settings, hardware resources are often constrained, particularly at the tactical edge. The platform aims to ensure AI models can run efficiently even on limited computing footprints.
Managing Legacy Systems and Modern AI
Modernising defence technology presents a complex challenge: integrating legacy systems with new, container-based AI applications.
To address this, the agreement includes Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, which allows traditional virtual machines and newer containerised workloads to operate on the same control plane. This provides a clearer migration path for existing systems while reducing operational complexity and costs.
The MOD will also use Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to support enterprise-wide automation. In the context of AI, automation plays a governance role, helping ensure that as models are retrained and redeployed, configuration management, security controls and service provisioning remain aligned with defence standards.
Security and Trusted Ecosystems
Security is a central concern in any defence deployment. The Red Hat platform supports DevSecOps practices, embedding security controls directly into the software development and deployment pipeline.
Ryan Daws
This approach is intended to maintain a trusted software supply chain, particularly when integrating solutions from approved third-party providers. By aligning those contributions within a standardised Red Hat environment, the MOD aims to ensure consistency in compliance and cybersecurity posture.
Joanna Hodgson, Regional Manager for the UK and Ireland at Red Hat, said the platform offers the flexibility to deploy any application or AI model across on-premise infrastructure, cloud environments or edge devices, enabling the MOD to take advantage of emerging technologies while maintaining operational resilience.
Infrastructure as the New Focus of AI Strategy
The agreement underscores a broader reality in enterprise and government AI adoption: success increasingly depends not only on the sophistication of algorithms but also on the strength of the infrastructure behind them.
For the UK Ministry of Defence, building a unified, secure and scalable digital backbone may prove just as important as the AI models themselves. By focusing on platform engineering and operational consistency, the department is positioning itself to deploy, update and govern AI capabilities more effectively across a complex and demanding environment.
