Lockheed Martin is expanding its venture capital fund – Lockheed Martin Ventures – for investing in promising defence technologies in British and European markets.

The aerospace and defence company’s $1 billion startup investment arm is also opening a London office, to manage the investments.

European customers increasingly seek sovereign capabilities, says Lockheed Martin – see this latest UK announcement as an example. And it also believes the investments will help increase the resilience of its own supply chain and strengthen the wider defence industrial base.

“We are reaching even deeper into the investing ecosystem, meeting our potential partners where they are,” said Chris Moran, vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin Ventures. “Our presence will help us seize opportunities for investing earlier in the startup lifecycle, ensure technical interoperability with existing platforms, and better support our allied customers.”

The investment arm’s capacity was increased from $400 million to $1 billion back in April.

“We are looking to invest in technologies that complement the company’s national security capabilities and help advance solutions to meet current and future customer mission needs, while further strengthening the transatlantic defense industrial base,” said Dan Tenney, senior vice president of Global Business Development and Strategy.

“We expect our investment strategy to evolve as technologies emerge and the startup environment matures in markets where we do business around the world.”

Specifically, the declared focus areas of Lockheed Martin Ventures are: Advanced Weapons, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomy, Cyber, Digital Transformation, Electronics & Compute, Materials, Manufacturing, Next Gen Communications, Power & Propulsion, Quantum, and Sensors & PNT.

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