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What ambitions does the UK government harbour for its military and, consequently, its defence industry in the future?

That is the central question that will shape policy and drive investment (or not, as the case may be) for the MoD over the next decade.

Whitehall was berated with a barrage of whitepapers, committee hearings and media slurs before the ink on last year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review was dry regarding the MoD’s ability to effectively and efficiently procure military equipment.

It’s no secret the MoD has made some questionable purchases in the past. If the NHS is like your dependable cousin who always gets you the right DVD at Christmas, the MoD would be your well-meaning Grandmother who buys you that garish woolly jumper, year after year. You don’t get a receipt, and you really should say thank you; after all, she thought it was what you wanted.

For Margaret Hodge, the Ministry is certainly the black sheep of the family. In a recent interview on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Buying Defence’ programme, Hodge claimed that “The MoD is just about the most awful example of a department wasting tax payers money, they are right out at the far end of the spectrum of waste.”

Point taken. But surely it’s more constructive to look at what steps the department is taking to improve these deficiencies in the context of Britain’s changing role in global politics, rather than dwelling on the past? OK then….

The future’s bright, the future’s Gray

Philip Hammond’s reference to the MoD’s “culture of sloppiness”, together with Hodge’s Public Accounts Committee report on the £10.8 billion cuts to armoured vehicle programmes, have done little to elevate the image of the MoD recently. But this culture is changing.

“The MoD is an oil tanker,” Hammond said in November. “It has 250,000 people and you can't turn it on a six pence. The culture is changing.”

A year on from his appointment as the MoD's Chief of Defence Materiel, responsible for the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) strategy, Bernard Gray is the “personification” of change and reform in the department.

Helping to steer the ship, Gray is proposing a wave of reforms to streamline the acquisition process and make it efficient for both government and industry. Deeper integration and collaboration between the public and private sector underpins this strategy.

Peter Luff, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, said, “we will be as radical as we need to be…that will involve a greater involvement with the private sector in some way.” How successful the government will be in achieving this plan for the MoD is as yet unclear, but Luff is certain that strides will be taken to avoid a stagnant and ineffective procurement process remaining: “The status quo is unlikely to endure.”

Under Luff and Gray’s leadership, a step-change in the department is expected to be apparent within five years.

Great Britain? Britannia rules the waves?

The procurement of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment could be one way in which this change is realised.

The problem with large contracts, such as the Future Rapid Effects Systems’ (FRES) next generation armoured vehicle, is that once they have been authorised, it’s very difficult for a minister to cancel them. Even if requirements change, or the money dries up. So they are delayed, often for years at a time.

At the other extreme Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) orders can be in the battlefield within weeks or months of the contract being signed. Yet they are expensive and short-sighted, often not presenting value for money in the long-term.

Buying COTS equipment could be a suitable compromise. Economically this does make sense, but it raises a fundamental question: Does the UK intend to remain a key player on the global front or not?

In the past, battle-winning equipment has typically been of bespoke design, developed and procured specifically for an operational purpose to gain technological superiority over the opposing forces. A move towards COTS equipment could see Britain stepping away from being an innovative defence industry thought leader, and turning its back on being a prominent global military power.

This has been an important theme for previous Defence Secretaries. John Hutton tried to spark this debate during his tenure while Liam Fox openly called for “barcode” procurement where the government buys commercially available equipment on the international market. It all comes down to this: what are we willing to spend?

Francis Tusa, Defence Analyst and host of the Radio 4 programme, is clear on the issue. “For a certain level of military capability you have to spend more than the UK is spending…spending has fallen faster than ambitions have.”

In 2012 the coalition government’s intentions on this point should become clearer. As food for thought though, with a successful Libya campaign behind him, how likely is Cameron to now downplay Britain’s ambitions?

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Contributor:   Andrew Elwell

Andrew graduated from The University of Nottingham with an MA in History in 2003. After graduating Andrew started his career with a niche armour systems manufacturer, which provided ballisitic and blast armour products for the international defence market. His first major undertaking was to project manage a UOR up-armour programme for an in-theatre MoD vehicle. After completion of the contract, Andrew headed up the research and development department at the company. This involved designing, developing, testing and presenting new armour solutions to defeat customer specific threats to all major European and International ballistic and blast standards.

Following this Andrew moved behind the desk and became Senior Editor at a news and data provider, offering proprietary analysis, intelligence, market research and data on the global security and defence industry. The role offered the chance to write widely on the industry, exploring new technologies and getting to grips with corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity fundraisings.

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Report Abuse   samd 12/29/2011 7:31:40 AM EST Andrew Interesting article but one isse that is still unclear is when (and if) the UK Government will publish its 10 year defence equipment spending plan. As Mr Tusa points out our ambitions seem to be outstripping our willingness to spend. If Ministers want to enhance their credibility with industry and the military they need to fullfill the promise made by the MoD on 18 July this year that they would publish this plan (originally they said it would be out in September). If they want us to believe that Force 2020 will happen they need to publish the plan. Replies (0) Post a reply Sign in or Sign up to post a comment