MARSS NiDAR C4I technology will form the backbone of Nigeria’s first fully integrated national defence architecture, following a memorandum of understanding signed in London on 19 March 2026 between MARSS, the Nigerian Ministry of Defence, and local partners. The programme is valued at over $190 million and is set to be among the largest national defence programmes commissioned in Africa.
The agreement establishes a multi-year partnership to deliver an artificial intelligence-powered shield protecting Nigeria’s critical infrastructure and borders. The programme targets asymmetric threats from terrorism and organised insurgency facing Nigeria and the wider West African region.
Programme Scope and MARSS NiDAR C4I Capabilities
Under the MoU, MARSS will deploy its NiDAR C4I platform alongside a training, spares, and support programme. A new national command centre will also be commissioned, featuring a Centre of Excellence to provide ongoing training for Nigerian operators.
The programme scope includes a fleet of expeditionary platforms equipped with sensors and effectors, integrated through the NiDAR system. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be incorporated via MARSS’s Autonomous Mission Management (AMM) capability, enabling aerial reconnaissance in hostile and contested areas.
New regional command centres and a national headquarters will be networked to receive live sensor data from fixed legacy systems, expeditionary platforms, and UAVs. MARSS’s NiDAR Nation Shield and Edge to Mission Command (E2MC) capabilities will fuse this data into an integrated multi-domain air and land surveillance picture.
Key Technology Upgrades Deployed
The programme will use two of NiDAR’s latest capability upgrades. NiDAR Nation Shield, with its E2MC capabilities, enables personnel across expeditionary vehicles, UAV operations, and regional and national hubs to work from a single operational picture. This supports faster and more accurate decision-making at tactical, operational, and strategic levels.
NiDAR AMM enables operators to autonomously task and deploy uncrewed assets across air, land, and sea domains. The system transforms UAVs, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) into autonomous sensor and effector platforms within the broader defence ecosystem.
Statements from MARSS and UK Government
“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.”
Lord Coaker, Minister for Defence at the House of Lords
“By integrating expeditionary vehicles, regional centres, and a new national headquarters into a single C4I tactical picture, NiDAR will provide a multi-dimensional layered defence capability that is both scalable and future-proofed in the fight against terrorism.”
Rob Balloch, Chief Growth Officer, MARSS
Balloch also said the support of the UK Government and local and international partners was a major factor in bringing the project together, describing it as an endorsement of the UK’s position as an AI defence technology leader capable of delivering critical capability at scale.
Global NiDAR Deployments and Strategic Significance
NiDAR is currently operational across more than 60 sites globally, protecting military and critical infrastructure installations. The Nigeria programme marks one of the first national-scale adoptions of AI-enabled C4I on the African continent.
MARSS has 20 years of experience in cybersecurity and situational awareness systems, with research collaboration spanning the EU, NATO, defence agencies, academia, and industry. The NiDAR platform provides 360-degree situational awareness across air, surface, sub-surface, and land domains, autonomously detecting, tracking, classifying, and recommending responses to asymmetric threats.