Britain's Ministry of Defence signs on the dotted line with Palantir
- Reference: 1769592608
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/28/mod_palantir_deal/
- Source link:
The MoD signed the three-year deal, starting on 1 April, with the company’s UK unit on 30 December. A [1]contract notice published on 23 January describes the work as “a follow on enterprise agreement… for continued licensing and support to data analytics capabilities supporting critical strategic, tactical and live operational decision making across classifications across defense and interoperable with Nato and other allied nations Palantir systems”.
The ministry says in the contract notice that a redacted version of the contract itself will be available on request 90 days after its award date.
[2]
The department used a defense and security exemption to justify awarding the contract directly rather than running a procurement competition.
[3]
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In an article about the deal on Saturday, OpenDemocracy, an investigative website, [5]said that Palantir hired four MoD officials in 2025, including in September Barnaby Kistruck, a former director of policy, a few days after he left the ministry. The Register confirmed this with MoD transparency data.
"We conduct comprehensive due diligence on any business appointments that may lead to concern," an MoD spokesperson said. "We work diligently to enforce any conditions placed on individuals, fully investigating instances raised of breached policy and, if found valid, take appropriate action."
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In December the MoD [7]published restrictions it had imposed on Kistruck in his new job under its business appointment rules.
These included not drawing on information available to him from working for the government to provide his new employer with an unfair advantage over competitors, not making use of government contacts, and not advising on a specific bid or contract relating the MoD within 12 months of leaving.
A spokesperson at Palantir, told The Register: "Palantir requires all staff to adhere to any non-compete clauses or business appointment rules advice as has been the case in both of these instances.
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Palantir, chaired by former PayPal chief executive Peter Thiel, is known for its work for defense and government security bodies including the US [9]Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency . Earlier this week hundreds of US technology staffers called on their employers to [10]demand that ICE end deployments in American cities after its agents shot and killed two people in Minneapolis.
[11]Future of UK's multibillion Ajax armored vehicle program looks shaky
[12]Microsoft shifting to cloud management software brings possibility of it peeking into your estate
[13]Palantir helps Ukraine train interceptor drone brains
[14]British Army's drone degree program set to take flight
In [15]September last year, the UK government agreed a deal with Palantir under which it would base its European defense work in Britain, creating up to 350 new jobs. The most recent [16]accounts [PDF] for the company's British subsidiary, Palantir Technologies UK Ltd, reported that it employed an average of 749 people in 2024, down from 842 in 2023.
Palantir provides the National Health Service in England with a Federated Data Platform under a £330 million ($453 million) seven year contract awarded in November 2023. Green party leader Zack Polanski said last week that the government should terminate the contract when it is reviewed next year:
"This Trump-supporting military surveillance outfit has no place in Britain's most important institution," he [17]said .
The integrated care board for Greater Manchester, which covers 2.8 million people, has [18]delayed joining the Federated Data Platform saying it needs more evidence this would be in the best interests of Mancunians. ®
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[1] https://www.find-%20tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/006344-2026
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXnsVxDWmm5mFOdf0fyIUwAAA4Y&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXnsVxDWmm5mFOdf0fyIUwAAA4Y&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXnsVxDWmm5mFOdf0fyIUwAAA4Y&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/palantir-ministry-%20defence-hire-four-officials-2025-record-defence-contract-240-million/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXnsVxDWmm5mFOdf0fyIUwAAA4Y&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-business-%20appointment-rules-applications-completed-from-july-to-september-2025/mod-business-%20appointment-rules-applications-completed-from-july-to-september-2025#barnaby-kistruck
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXnsVxDWmm5mFOdf0fyIUwAAA4Y&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/21/ice_enlists_palantir_to_develop/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/26/ice_shootings_tech_employees_demand_action/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/25/uk_defence_grapples_with_ajax/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/23/microsoft_shifting_to_cloud_management/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/22/ukraine_interceptor_drone_palantir/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/22/british_army_invests_in_drone_degree/
[15] https://www.the%20register.com/2025/09/20/uk_palantir_defense_pact/
[16] https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07042994/filing-history/MzQ4MzQ1MTExNWFkaXF6a2N4/document?format=pdf&download=0
[17] https://greenparty.org.uk/2026/01/22/zack-polanski-tells-defence-surveillance-%20corporation-palantir-to-pack-its-bags-and-get-the-hell-out-of-the-nhs/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/20/manchester_nhs_fdp_deferred/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: The exact opposite of what everyone else in Europe is doing
Indeed. The rampant and repeated stupidity of the British government is enough to make you weep. Every other country is realising that the USA is not an ally, not trustworthy, and that data sovereignty (and security) are vital, yet what do the cretins of MoD do? They spend yet more millions with an inherently untrustworthy US company to process critical military information. Maybe if our government weren't a bunch of talent free humanities graduate squabbling over who their leader should be, then their replacements would have time to think about important stuff.
And "important stuff" doesn't include shit like local government reorganisation, snatching control of the police for a shit-head home secretary, banning pavement parking, carpeting the land with solar farms, etc etc....
Re: The exact opposite of what everyone else in Europe is doing
Not sure why a humanities graduate *should* be any less capable of spotting the obvious risk than The Register's IT/tech-grad-heavy readership, but other than that... yeah.
Thiel is a creepy, fascist neo-feudalist, someone who has said he no longer believes in democracy, the type of tech bro who believes in one-way libertarianism for the super rich and powerful likes of himself, but will happily see the bulk of ordinary people who get in his way crushed and oppressed.
And very close to, and in sync with, the Trump regime that considers its "allies" to be little more than peons in America's would-be sphere of influence.
The exact type of thing that recent events have made clear the UK and Europe *have* to be moving away from for their own security.
We should be decoupling from US Tech giants
Absolute insanity that we are still tying ourselves to US Tech giants in the current enivonment. EU and UK should decouple ASAP from an unreliable partner that is threatening to invade European territory
The exact opposite of what everyone else in Europe is doing
Well that'll be just fine when Trump's Christian soldiers invade Greenland.