Defence · Market entry assessment
Could this business serve defence customers, and by what route?
Your own business, or one you advise or own: we assess how its products, services and facilities could transfer to a defence customer, which route is realistic — build, partner or buy — and what must change first.
Canada first. Allied companies and supply chains are included within an agreed scope.
Discuss your projectWhat you receive ↓See the deliverable ↓What you’re deciding
Whether to pursue defence, and by which route.
Whether the capability transfers
Which current products, services or facilities a defence customer could use, and where the differentiation and the barriers sit.
Which route to market is realistic
Build the capability and sell to a prime contractor that holds the principal contract or supply another business in the chain; partner with an established supplier; or buy a qualified business. Each route with the evidence for it and the assumption behind it.
What must change first
The qualification, security, workforce, capacity, investment and timing questions the evidence raises, stated as questions to settle rather than as costs we cannot verify.
What must change first
The requirements that decide whether a route is open.
Entering defence turns less on the product than on what a customer must see before it can buy. We document the public evidence on each and name the question to settle. We do not certify, register or clear a business.
- 01
Controlled goods and export controls
Whether the work would involve controlled goods, and which registration and handling requirements the public guidance attaches to it before any transfer.
- 02
Security clearance
Which facility and personnel clearances the route implies, and whether ownership or board composition could stand in the way.
- 03
Cybersecurity and quality systems
The certifications a customer at that tier typically expects, and which of them the business already holds or has publicly disclosed.
- 04
Domestic content and industrial benefits
Whether the route sits inside a programme with domestic-content or industrial-benefit obligations, and who holds them.
- 05
Capacity, workforce and financing
Whether current capacity could serve the route without displacing existing customers, and how long procurement cycles would need to be financed.
- 06
Timing
Where the relevant programmes sit — announced, consulted, funded, tendered, selected or contracted — and how far each stage is from a purchase the business could compete for.
Formal approval, registration and clearance belong to the authorities and counterparties; the public evidence and the open questions are what we deliver.
The engagement
What you receive, and what you provide.
- What we look at
- Current capabilities and their transferability, plausible customer and supplier categories, the capabilities and programmes public policy is directing demand toward and their stages, differentiation and commercial barriers.
- What you receive
- Potential defence applications for the business; the build, partner and buy routes compared on one basis; candidate counterparties where the research supports them; the requirements to settle first; and the discussion points for management.
- What you provide
- The business and the market or value chain in view; what may be shared about current capabilities and constraints; a contact to answer questions while the work runs.
- Where to start
- One company and one market-entry question. A detailed market-entry plan is scoped separately once the routes are clear.
- Then
- Detailed partner research, acquisition screening or further market segments.
Delivered through 15Rock’s research platform and expert analysts.
Deliverable preview
The routes, compared on one basis.
Build, partner or buy: each route to market sits on one row with what it would require, the evidence today, our confidence in that evidence and what to verify first.
| Route to market | What it would require | Evidence today | Confidence | What to verify first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build · supply a prime contractor directly | Supplier qualification and documented quality systems | Comparable commercial work; no defence customer on record | Confidence · medium | Qualification path and lead time |
| Build · supply an existing supplier in the chain | Capacity for the supplier’s volumes and specifications | A regional supplier publicly names this component class | Confidence · high | Whether the supplier is adding sources |
| Partner · team with an established supplier | Complementary capability and an agreed commercial split | Partner candidates identified; interest unknown | Confidence · low | Appetite and exclusivity terms |
| Buy · acquire a qualified business | Capital, integration capacity and retained approvals | Candidates researched; none known to be for sale | Confidence · low | Owner intentions and whether approvals transfer |
From question to review
How the work runs.
- 01
You
Frame the decision: the market question, the companies in view, the geography and how the research will be used.
- 02
Together
Agree the evidence and criteria: source availability, permitted inputs, assessment dimensions and the depth required.
- 03
Our platform
Research and organise: build profiles, map activities and connect public market developments to company capabilities.
- 04
Our analysts
Assess and explain: apply the agreed criteria, separate evidence from inference and document uncertainty.
- 05
You
Review the shortlist and decide what needs more research before a commercial decision.
Before you start
Four things that shape the scope.
- 01Which market or value chain is in view, and why now?
- 02What can be shared about current capabilities, capacity and constraints?
- 03Is the ambition to sell directly, to supply, to partner or to acquire, or is that the question?
- 04Who would own the decision and the follow-through?
What this is not
- A statement that the business is an approved or qualified supplier; approval and certification belong to the relevant authorities and counterparties.
- A promise that the business can pivot quickly, cheaply or without new qualifications.
- Non-public cost, capacity or revenue figures. Where the evidence is thin we state the question, not an estimate.
- Introductions to counterparties or transaction execution.
Start with one question
Could your business, or one you advise, serve defence customers?
Tell us the company and the market in view. We’ll agree the question and depth before quoting.