On 28th February the MOD unveiled its Integrated Procurement Model, the latest iteration of an on-going effort by the MOD to address the perceived shortcomings of the defence acquisition system. There have been numerous reports focussing on improvements to the way Defence acquires equipment, the Sheldon Review, on Ajax problems in May 2023, and the House of Commons Defence Select Committee report on defence acquisition in July 2023. It is evident that the war in Ukraine shows that more urgency is needed in the way the UK acquires and supports its warfighting capability.
Also on 28th February, the shadow defence Secretary John Healey spoke at a Policy Exchange event about Labour’s defence policy. In his remarks he highlighted what he saw as shortcomings in the way the MOD acquires equipment. This was in the context of a wider speech about proposed reforms to the way the MOD is run and the relationship between ‘the centre’ and the service chiefs.
For some time there has been a discussion within defence circles about the need for the UK’s armed forces to be ready to fight a near peer adversary after a long period of counter insurgency warfare in the Middle East. The advent of a war in Europe has made this discussion more urgent. The UK seeks to play a leading role in the Atlantic Alliance and to do so it needs to be a credible and reliable partner. The lessons from the Ukraine conflict are being studied in real time, so it would be wise for any policy maker to avoid casting their plans into tablets of stone which will be overtaken by events.
The proposed Integrated Procurement Model unveiled by the MOD is due to begin in the new financial year, April this year. It will address new programmes starting after that date. An Integrated Design Authority based within Strategic Command will oversee the process. The aim is to ensure that procurement is ‘joined up’ and incorporate ‘spiral’ development, not waiting until a perfect solution is achieved but aiming for Minimum Deployable Capability.
Alongside this, it is stated that MOD wants to work more closely with industry to empower innovation. While the rest of the world has embraced Artificial Intelligence and many elements of the aerospace industry are moving into Additive Manufacturing (3D printing of components) the MOD is still gently dipping its toe into the water of ‘innovation’. In Ukraine a whole Mil – Tech culture has sprung into life propelled by the contingencies of a war on their doorstep. Weapons and sensors have been repurposed to deal with the immediate threat. This has resulted in the failure of Putin’s plan to take over Ukraine in three days.
Industry, for its part, must be a little more forward leaning in addressing the needs that have been identified from the campaign in Ukraine. The government has identified the need to ramp up the production of munitions, which should give UK industry the green light to begin production in the anticipation of contracts. As technology evolves, industry should look to innovate and begin early stage development of technologies that can be adapted to the needs of defence.
The surge in drone technology illustrates how this can be done. Drones and counter drone technology will be in demand for the foreseeable future, but other technologies may also emerge. Betting shareholders’ money on exotic technology is not the answer, but closer liaison with the rapid capabilities departments of the services will ensure that risk sharing can become the norm rather than the exception. This way the demand signals from government can be calibrated so that contracts arrive when needed, and capability gaps are closed.
Nor should industry put all its eggs in the drone basket. Developments in the south China Sea, the Balkans and the Middle East may require the UK to play a role as befits its status as a P5 member of the UN Security Council, alongside the NATO commitment. The MOD applied the Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) process to address the needs of the Iraqi and Afghanistan campaigns. Since when it seems to have returned to business as usual.
It must be hoped that this new model will result in the faster delivery of the equipment and the upgrades that will be needed for the wars of today and tomorrow. But this will need the Treasury to understand that budgeting for Defence should be based on a more predictable basis. In the Spring Budget of 2024, on 6th March, the Chancellor announced that he would enable the NHS to invest in its transformation over a three year period. Perhaps this can be a model for the MOD?