Common Questions

What is the Zig-Zag programme in UK defence?

Zig-Zag is a permanent MOD programme launched on 22 April 2026 under DIAG. It seconds private-sector finance professionals from City firms, VC, and PE into MOD procurement and investment decisions for finite periods.Source: event

How does Zig-Zag differ from Sprint?

Zig-Zag is the talent-side mechanism, bringing private-sector investment expertise into the MOD. Sprint is the capital-side mechanism, attracting private investment into defence startups. Both are permanent companion programmes under DIAG.Source: event

Which firms can send staff on the Zig-Zag secondment programme?

No specific firms had been named at the time of publication. Zig-Zag targets City finance, venture capital and private equity professionals. The first secondment is a WATCH FOR item.Source: Lowdown

Background

Zig-Zag launched on 22 April 2026 alongside Sprint when Defence Secretary John Healey and Chancellor Rachel Reeves made the Defence Investors' Advisory Group (DIAG) permanent. It is the secondment-pathway Arm of that architecture: a structured route for private-sector finance professionals from City firms, venture capital, and private equity into the Ministry of Defence for finite periods, with the intent of accelerating MOD procurement literacy and its capacity to engage fast-moving startups.

Zig-Zag addresses the institutional knowledge gap that is the counterpart to Sprint's capital gap. MOD procurement culture was built for large prime contractors: multi-year frameworks, complex clearance requirements, and a risk culture calibrated for platform procurement rather than seed-stage companies. Secondments from City institutions and VC partnerships are intended to rewire decision-making from inside, rather than imposing external process reform. Both Zig-Zag and Sprint are permanent under DIAG, not time-limited pilot schemes. Six weeks after launch, no first secondments had been publicly named.

Zig-Zag sits within a broader UK defence-startup infrastructure that expanded sharply in May 2026. On 13 May 2026, the National Wealth Fund wrote its first defence cheque: £25m to Rowden Technologies in Bristol, its 160 staff building deployable sensing and information systems. Innovate UK opened £15m of defence-adjacent grant competitions the same month. Together, Zig-Zag, Sprint, the NWF deployment, and the Innovate UK grants represent the most cohesive public-private mobilisation for UK defence technology since the post-Ukraine defence review. The first named Zig-Zag secondee and the first procurement decision they influence remain the key signals.