Problem is, if its COTS, they dont want to know. Too many overspecifications for kit, when actually, there are some pretty funky commercial solutions to military problems, particularly when it comes to Comms and electronics. It might not be electronically "Hardened" or meet all the mil std requirements, but if it does the job, whats the issue?
Then you get into a furball with the UK manufacturers every time you buy a piece of kit thats twice as effective and at half the cost of the UK version. Although to be fair, MBDA and BAE Systems are churning out some good individual items, instead of complete systems.
The only pieces of kit that should be cutting edge are the "eyes and ears" stuff - ISTAR, Sentinel etc, as this is the key.