Cranfield University
British postgraduate university with defence and aerospace research at Shrivenham.
Cranfield University runs the Defence Academy's postgraduate defence and security research campus at Shrivenham, including autonomous-platform and mine-countermeasures engineering work.
Last refreshed: 24 July 2026
What defence research does Cranfield University conduct at Shrivenham?
Timeline for Cranfield University
A ground robot takes over the minefield
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
Cranfield University is a British postgraduate-only university whose defence and security campus is embedded within the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. It became the Academy's primary academic provider in 1984, through a partnership with the Royal Military College of Science, delivering postgraduate education, training and research in defence engineering, security, management and leadership to military officers and civil servants from the UK and Allied Nations.
The Shrivenham site includes the Cranfield Ordnance Test and Evaluation Centre (COTEC), which conducts materials and weapons testing for government agencies and defence suppliers, alongside laboratories for radar system design, communications networks and autonomous-platform research. Cranfield's main campus, near Bedford, was founded after the Second World War on a former RAF airfield to focus on aerospace engineering.
Cranfield is a frequent academic partner on Royal Navy and British Army autonomy programmes, and its published research is a credible secondary source for capability assessments.
What is Cranfield University known for in defence research?
Where is Cranfield University's defence campus?
Is Cranfield University part of the British military?
