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UK Defence AI Playbook — Customer Guide

Last updated: 2026-05-21 (Plan 145 v1)

What is the UK Defence AI Playbook, and why does it matter to you?

The UK Defence AI Playbook (published by the Ministry of Defence, February 2024) is the procurement gate for AI in defence. Bidders without the supplier-assurance evidence the Playbook demands are screened out before the technical evaluation gets going. The quickest way to take pressure off your team is to keep the supplier-assurance pack current and reusable — so every defence tender attaches the same fresh evidence base, and you do not redraft bespoke documentation for each bid.

What UK Defence AI Playbook-specific features does Secruna ship?

  • Supplier-assurance pack generator — drafts the AI Playbook supplier-assurance evidence from your AI inventory.
  • Rule book v1 — rules at rule_book/uk_defence_ai_playbook/v1/ covering the AI Playbook risk tiers and supplier-assurance fields.
  • AI inventory aligned to AI Playbook risk tiers — every model in the proposed solution is classified against the Playbook tier.
  • Two-person sign-off on tier classification — high-risk tier assignments require countersigning.
  • Cross-bid reuse — the inventory and evidence base reuse across every MoD bid.

Limitations (v1)

  • DASA / DSTL / front-door portal submission not automated. Secruna assembles the pack; the supplier files the bid.
  • Operational TTP-level evidence — for systems destined for an operational environment (TTPs, deployable defence systems), the supplier captures TTP-level evidence outside Secruna.
  • List X / SECRET system evidence — out of platform scope.

What the AI Playbook is

The UK Defence AI Playbook is the MoD's guide for adopting AI safely, ethically and effectively in defence. It applies to suppliers, DSTL, DASA and MoD project teams. Reference material lives at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-in-defence.

The Playbook covers:

  • Risk tiering — every AI system classified by risk to mission, to safety, to ethics and to information.
  • Supplier-assurance evidence — the documentation the supplier must produce per system.
  • Human-machine teaming — oversight roles and override capability.
  • Ethics and lawful use — alignment with the MoD's Ethical AI Principles.
  • Data and model lineage — provenance of training data and model artefacts.

What Secruna covers

The v1 rule book covers:

  • Risk tier classification — model in scope, tier assignment, citation.
  • Supplier-assurance field map — fields per tier with the evidence Secruna can produce.
  • Human-machine teaming evidence — oversight role per system, override history.
  • Ethics record — explicit reviewer attestation against MoD Ethical AI Principles.
  • Data and model lineage — provenance metadata captured per system.

Using the supplier-assurance pack

The pack is generated from the dashboard under Exports → UK Defence AI Playbook Supplier-Assurance Pack (org_admin role required). The PDF / CSV includes:

  • Cover — supplier name, bid reference, generation timestamp.
  • §1. Tier summary — counts of systems at each tier.
  • §2. Per-system evidence — one row per system with tier, classification rationale, oversight record, ethics attestation and lineage metadata.
  • §3. Gaps — fields where evidence is incomplete.
  • §4. Audit trail — last 90 days of activity.

Filename: secruna-uk-defence-ai-playbook-{supplier_slug}-{bid_ref}-{date}.pdf.

What Secruna does NOT cover

  • Bid portal submission. Supplier-managed.
  • TTP-level evidence for deployed defence systems. Operator- captured.
  • SECRET / TOP SECRET model evidence. Out of platform scope.

Frequently asked

Q. We are a tier-3 supplier delivering to a defence prime. Whose pack does the evidence land in? Both. The tier-3 supplier captures its own evidence in its tenant; the prime captures the prime-level pack in theirs. Cross-tenant share is supported under a counterparty agreement.

Q. What is the relationship to Def Stan 05-138? Def Stan 05-138 is the cyber assurance level for MoD contracts. The AI Playbook is the AI-specific overlay. Both apply to a defence supplier running AI under an MoD contract.