NEW STYLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYED

Rating: Compared to financial year 24/25 Q4, the NISTA/SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating at 25/26 Q4 remained at Red. This is primarily due to the following factors. 1. The programme is currently operating 12 months behind schedule in delivering capability to the Maritime and Land sectors. 2. The delays stem from overly optimistic planning assumptions, ongoing resource and funding constraints, all of which have contributed to increased costs. 3. Delivery to the Land environment is now largely complete, with transition from legacy systems to OpNET expected by end of May 2026. 4. Maritime delivery has gained momentum, however, installation timelines remain constrained by vessel availability. 5. The programme is currently being reset with a reduced scope to ensure it can deliver within budget.

Schedule: Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the programmes end-date at 25/26-Q4 increased from 31/03/2029 to 30/04/2030. This is primarily due to the following factors. 1. Delays in delivery and the availability of Navy platforms for OpNET to be installed.

Cost: Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) remained at £1399M.

Source: NISTA Major Projects Annual Report 2025-26 (data)

Rating: The Project's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 24/25-Q4 is RED, compared with the Infrastructure and Projects Authority's assessment last year of AMBER. This is due to the following factors. The programme is currently running approximately 12 months behind schedule in delivering to Maritime and Land sectors. Maritime delivery continues to pose challenges with frequent disruptions due to changes in platform availability. Within the Land environment, the Front Line Commands are facing difficulties in navigating the complexity of building OpNET nodes, leading to delays in transitioning from legacy systems. Financial and resource constraints have further constrained the programme's ability to address these challenges, thereby exacerbating the situation.

Schedule: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's end-date at 24/25-Q4 remained at 31/03/2029.

Cost: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 24/25-Q4 (measured in £m) increased from 1397 to 1399. This is primarily due to the following factors. The project's departmental-agreed Whole Life Cost at 24/25-Q4 increased from £1,397M to £1,399M but remains within approval tolerances.

Source: NISTA Annual Report 2024-25 (data)

Rating: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 22/23-Q4 remained at Amber. This is primarily due to the following factors. Delivery to the Maritime Environment remains complex and is regularly impacted by changes to platform availability. There are also ongoing concerns relating to resourcing in the face of centrally driven reductions in headcount.

Schedule: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the project's end-date at 23/24-Q4 increased from 2028-03-31 to 2029-03-31. This is primarily due to the following factors. Project End Date adjusted to align with Full Business Case 3 which was approved in December 2023. Full Operating Capability is now forecast to be declared in April 2030 primarily due to ship availability beyond the current approval caused by changes in operational deployments.Â

Cost: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the project's departmental-agree Whole Life Cost at 23/24-Q4 increased from 835m. to 1397m. This is primarily due to the following factors. Approval of Full Business Case 3 covering the next 5 years was received in December 2023. The in year variance resulted in a net 17m reduction in the Whole Life Costs. Further offsets against the in year deferrals will be dependant on funding uplifts in FY24/25.

Source: IPA Annual Report 2023-24 (data)