Leonardo has become first major defence company in the UK to move to the secure cloud.

This move will allow the Bristol based company to get high-tech new equipment into the hands of the UK Armed Forces and its allies faster. The deployment of a cloud-based Azure platform across its UK business is a first in the industry, migrating key applications onto the secure cloud.

In collaboration with Microsoft and Accenture, the secure cloud will make it possible for Leonardo to use rapid cloud computing techniques for design, data storage and resources, with encryption offering an extra layer of security.

Gareth Hetheridge, director digital and IT, Leonardo UK said: “Unfolding global conflicts have created an urgent requirement for the defence industry to fast track design and delivery to tight timescales. With the introduction of a new Leonardo digital backbone, employees, partners and customers can now securely access relevant data and applications anytime, anywhere.”

He added: “This will be vital as industry moves to a model of defence contracting where companies and customers work more closely together than ever before, despite being physically located around the country and internationally. 

Our close partnership with Microsoft UK and Accenture has allowed us to adopt this disruptive technology at pace and we are very proud to be flying the flag for bringing the benefits of the cloud to the UK defence industry.”

Leonardo has given training and access to Azure to its employees, to build confidence of the use of the secure cloud for aerospace design and development, as part of its goal to reach new levels of agility in the delivery of capability to the UK armed forces. 

The company’s UK-based scientists and engineers will now have secure access to a remotely-accessible ‘digital backbone’ that will speed up product research, cut development costs and enable closer collaboration with customers and other partners.

Aaron Neil, director defence and secure markets, Microsoft UK, said: “Over the last year we have worked with Leonardo UK to better understand its digital transformation aspirations and priorities. We are delighted to support Leonardo’s migration to Azure, enabling highly secure access to the cloud; this announcement is testament to our close partnership and an exciting milestone in delivering advanced technology to accelerate capability delivery for UK Defence.”

Leonardo, best known in the UK as the home of British helicopters and for its onshore production of advanced electronics for the Royal Air Force’s Typhoon fleet, is investing around £100m this year in the UK in its ongoing enabler’s strategy. Last year the company rolled out digital electronics factories across the country, including a £30 million hub in Yeovil.