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UK must expand defence reach

Land September 22, 2016

In her first defence keynote, delivered at DVD2016 on 8th September, Under Secretary of State for Defence Procurement Harriett Baldwin MP stressed the Government’s continued commitment to defence investment.

Here, MOD DCB features editor Julie Shennan presents the highlights from this speech and assesses the implications for the defence supply chain.

Harriett Baldwin MP was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence on 17 July 2016. Delivering her first defence keynote at the DVD 2016 event on 8 September at Millbrook in Bedfordshire, the new Defence Procurement Minister stressed Brexit would not change the UK Government’s commitment to spend two per cent of GDP on defence for the rest of the current Parliament.

Ms Baldwin stated: “We have the money; we have the fifth biggest defence budget in the world and are one of five NATO countries that meet their two per cent defence spending target. Crucially this budget will continue to grow in real terms for each of the next six years. Over the next decade we are committed to spending over £178 billion on equipment and equipment support.”

The Minister explained that this commitment would be used to power the acquisition of the next generation of UK defence materiel.

Our land forces are seeing the fruits of that investment; with the AJAX – the biggest single order for a UK armoured vehicle in 30 years – on track to come into force in 2020.

“Our equipment fund is also paving the way for the Challenger 2 Life Extension project, with Assessment Phase scheduled for this year. Also in the pipeline are plans for a new mechanised infantry vehicle and new multi-role vehicles.”

Talking of this new technology, Ms Baldwin recognised that it was only made possible by the continued innovation of the UK defence supply chain. She said: “The challenges of preparing and equipping our Armed Forces for today and tomorrow are many; we all recognise that the 2015 message of the National Security Strategy – of living in a world of rapid fundamental change – is a very powerful one.

We have what it takes to not just meet this challenge head on but to turn that challenge into opportunity.”

Aiming to optimise this opportunity, the UK Government is continuing to cut through the red tape with online resources being made available detailing opportunities, policy updates and advice on funding. These steps have been taken to increase not only the number of companies supplying to the Ministry of Defence, but also their variety.

Ms Baldwin explained: “We in the MOD are doing our bit, with a commitment to spend one in every four pounds of defence procurement with small and medium-sized enterprises.

“In March we launched our refreshed SME policy which includes a new supply chain champion and a network of supply chain advocates.”

The Minister urged the private sector to follow suit, saying:

We need industry to continue its drive to open up supply chains and look to non-traditional suppliers for winning solutions.”

While dedicated to growing the defence marketplace at home, the UK Government is also focused on expanding it overseas.

Ms Baldwin said: “To stay ahead of the innovation curve we must think globally, creating world-beating innovations for the international community. A thriving UK defence and security sector plays an integral role in national security; enabling industry to continue investing in the innovation and technological development needed by our Armed Forces and security agencies.” 

She continued: “Defence exports play a key role in underpinning our broader military and diplomatic relations across the globe, as well as helping us achieve greater interoperability with our allies. We do have a good track record in this area, but this is no time for complacency, especially in light of the recent referendum.”

Keen to promote defence exports, the UK Government has taken a range of affirmative steps including enhancing support to UK defence exports through the Defence Growth Partnership (DGP), making exports a core task of the MOD, and placing greater emphasis on export potential as a criterion in procurement decisions.

The Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 stated: “We will further enhance our support to the defence and security export sector, and will:

• Establish a team in UKTI [now Department for International Trade (DIT)] dedicated to supporting the negotiation and delivery of government-to-government deals by departments…
• Make support for exports a core task for the MOD, with responsibility for managing all strategic defence export campaigns, overseen by the Defence Secretary and a new senior official post. This will create additional capacity to support these campaigns, including the training of international customers. We will adopt a more flexible approach to charging potential customers when supporting export campaigns where this is in our national interest. [The DIT] Defence and Security Organisation will continue to work with the sector to promote exports to potential customers.
• Ensure that future export potential is factored into our own equipment procurement decisions from the outset, and that potential customers are routinely invited to trials of British-developed military and security equipment.”

Ms Baldwin challenged industry to match this commitment: 

Once again we are looking to industry to play a part by thinking hard about how we can make UK-derived products as globally competitive as possible while continuing to meet our own fundamental operational requirements.”

The Minister concluded: “With great challenge comes great opportunity. Let’s see how together we can turn the challenges into solutions and keep that virtuous circle of prosperity and security spinning for our nation.”

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Post written by: Julie Shennan

Features Editor of MOD DCB Magazine and MOD DSS Yearbook. Content Marketing Executive at BiP Solutions (Defence Online's sister company). Editor and founder of Artsnfaffs Online Magazine.