Finnish telecoms, IT and consumer electronics company Nokia Oyj (HEL:NOKIA) (NYSE:NOK) announced on Wednesday that Nokia Defense and UK systems engineering specialist C3IA have signed a memorandum of understanding to support the digital transformation of UK defence operations.

This partnership combines Nokia's connectivity capabilities with C3IA's systems engineering, capability integration, support and security services expertise.

The companies will work on resilient communications, secure information sharing and network interoperability across land, air, maritime, cyber and space domains. Their collaboration will cover tactical and operational communications, private 4G and 5G, situational awareness, command and control, sensing, autonomous systems and edge computing.

The agreement builds on the companies' participation in the UK Ministry of Defence Tactical Communication Systems framework, known as TacSys, providing access to Nokia's connectivity portfolio from headquarters to the tactical edge.

Under the UK Government's TacSys framework (RM6393), Nokia Defense and C3IA participate in Lot 1 for services and Lot 3 for components, supporting procurement of connectivity solutions for future tactical communications requirements.