According to an analysis of official documents, over the decade ending in March 2026, the UK Ministry of Defence paid 拢186 million more to the US software company Palantir than the contract amounts publicly disclosed by both parties.
Although the MoD published total contracts worth 拢95.9 million for this period, the analysis found that actual spending was far higher, reaching 拢282 million.
Part of the discrepancy stems from at least one contract that was not disclosed for national security reasons.
In addition to publishing contract announcements and estimated contract values with external suppliers, the MoD separately publishes actual payments made.
Palantir's software is used by the MoD for operational planning and decision support.
The payments made by the department to Palantir were scattered across more than a dozen spreadsheets, and the total of these payments had never been reported by the media before.
The gap between publicly disclosed contract values and actual spending comes at least in part from a contract whose details were not disclosed for national security reasons, but it remains unclear whether this is sufficient to explain the entire discrepancy.
This finding further intensifies concerns about the UK's reliance on foreign suppliers, especially its reliance on Palantir.
Palantir has faced criticism for its close ties to the Trump administration and the US defence industry.
The company's chief executive, Alex Karp, has defended its relationship with the US government.
Last month, it was reported that some within the UK government are pushing to find domestic alternatives to Palantir to take over its contracts with the MoD and NHS England, in a bid to support the UK's artificial intelligence industry.
The MoD is one of several government bodies criticised by MPs for awarding large contracts to Palantir without a competitive procurement process.
In December last year, the MoD announced a three-year software contract with Palantir worth 拢240.6 million, which was not put out to public tender.
The department said that for this contract, which begins in April 2026, it did not consider bids from other companies because "only Palantir has the design familiarity and technical expertise required to fully support the MoD's data analysis capabilities".
An analysis of official spreadsheets found that of the 拢282 million the MoD paid to Palantir over the decade ending in March 2026, more than 80% came from contracts awarded through non-competitive procurement procedures.
Palantir is not the only US company to have won large MoD contracts without a public tender.
Boeing also recently received a directly awarded contract worth up to 拢354 million.
Dame Chi Onwurah, chair of the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee and a Labour MP, said: "It should not be so difficult to find out how much the MoD is actually paying Palantir, and there is so little competitive tendering. This situation cannot meet the requirements of transparency, accountability and the public trust that follows from them."
The UK's state-owned electricity system operator, the National Energy System Operator, also extended its existing arrangement with the US technology company without inviting other companies to bid.
Palantir has previously said that the UK government encourages public sector bodies to use pilot projects when tendering for new projects.
Dallán Ryan, research and services manager at UK public procurement intelligence platform Stotles, said the MoD and other public bodies "follow slightly different rules" because some agreements are not disclosed for security reasons, meaning publicly disclosed contract values may understate actual spending.
He added: "The 拢282 million figure is recorded in the MoD's own official statistics, but you have to know where to look. Most procurement reports and data tools... start with contract announcements, so people usually only look at those announcements."
The MoD said it is committed to improving transparency and that all payments to Palantir have been disclosed in official records.
The department added: "In some cases, specific information about contracts is withheld for national security reasons under UK procurement law. This is to protect the UK's national security capabilities and related personnel."
Palantir said: "For national security-related reasons, we cannot comment on this matter."
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