The Nigerian Ministry of Defence signed a $190 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UK-based defence technology firm MARSS Group, on March 19, 2026, to establish a national artificial intelligence (AI) powered security network. The agreement, finalised in London during an official state visit, initiates a multi-year program to deploy a comprehensive Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) framework across the country. Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, and MARSS CEO Johannes Pinl signed the document with backing from the UK Government and UK Export Finance. This project represents one of the largest defence technology investments in Africa and indicates a shift toward AI-enabled sovereign defence architectures.
“The UK and Nigeria share a deep, longstanding security and defence relationship. Signing this memorandum of understanding is a great example of our continued and strengthening partnership, with a British company able to deliver world leading, combat proven UK technology and defensive capabilities to support Nigeria’s fight against terrorism.”
– Minister for Defence at the House of Lords, Lord Coaker
The program focuses on protecting Nigeria’s borders and critical infrastructure from asymmetric threats, including organised insurgency and terrorism. The primary technical driver of the initiative is NiDAR, an AI-powered command and control platform. NiDAR is “sensor agnostic,” meaning it integrates data from existing and new hardware, such as radar, thermal cameras, and sonar, into a single tactical picture. This allows operators to maintain 360-degree awareness across air, land, sea, and subsurface domains simultaneously.
A new national command centre will also be commissioned, featuring a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence. These facilities will serve as the hub for training Nigerian operators, ensuring the military maintains readiness without long-term dependence on foreign technical staff. The infrastructure will also include several regional centres networked to receive live sensor data from both fixed installations and mobile units.
The technical scope of the delivery includes expeditionary platforms, which are off-road vehicles equipped with integrated sensors and effectors managed through the NiDAR C4I. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) featuring MARSS’ Autonomous Mission Management (AMM) will also be deployed to allow for intelligent reconnaissance in high-risk zones without constant manual piloting. Furthermore, the Nation Shield’s Edge-to-Mission Command (E2MC) capability ensures that personnel in the field, using ruggedised tablets, see the same real-time data as commanders in the national headquarters.
Such a large-scale deployment often involves the challenge of integrating legacy systems, which are older hardware units that were never designed for AI compatibility. MARSS addresses this by using its E2MC capability to bridge the gap between older fixed sensors and newer mobile platforms. This creates a “Nation Shield” that is scalable, allowing Nigeria to add more sensors or autonomous units as the security situation evolves. NiDAR AMM that also enables autonomous deployment and tasking of UAVs, UGVs, and USVs, transforming uncrewed assets into intelligent sensors and effectors within the wider defence ecosystem.
The move aligns with the broader goals of the African Union’s Continental AI Strategy, which runs from 2025 to 2030. This regional framework encourages member states to adopt AI for proactive security measures rather than reactive ones. Nigeria has been moving toward this digital transition for several years. In 2023, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, began emphasising the need for AI in maritime operations to protect the nation’s “blue economy” and improve ship maintenance cycles.
The partnership also shows the growing role of the UK defence sector in West African security. Lord Coaker, Minister for Defence at the House of Lords, noted that the MoU demonstrates a strengthening relationship where British companies provide combat-proven technology to support counter-terrorism efforts. By building a local training and maintenance ecosystem, the program aims to avoid the equipment graveyard effect often seen in large-scale defence procurements, where assets fail due to a lack of local technical support.
By integrating expeditionary vehicles, regional centres, and a national headquarters into a single tactical picture, the NiDAR system will be scalable and future-proofed, said Rob Balloch, Chief Growth Officer at MARSS.
AMM was unveiled in London in September 2025. It allows entirely autonomous missions to be conducted, according to Janes. In tests carried out in August 2025, one operator was able to oversee 10 unmanned aerial systems operating automatically, as per Janes. MARSS’ NiDAR Nation Shield and Edge to Mission Command (E2MC) systems will also be used to deliver air and land surveillance data.
Likely implications for Nigerian defence policy include a shift toward smaller, high-tech patrol units rather than large, manpower-heavy static deployments. The ability to monitor vast, remote border regions with autonomous UAVs and remote sensors should allow the Nigerian Armed Forces to respond more precisely to insurgent movements. Following the signing of the MoU, the next phases will involve the commissioning of the national command centre and the first deployment of NiDAR-equipped expeditionary vehicles for field testing.