20 Jul 12. The MOD’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) stakeholder event, DVD2012, held at Millbrook Proving Ground 20-21 June, once again provided a crucial platform for the acquisition community, military personnel and industry to meet and discuss the equipment and support needs of the UK’s Land Forces. As in previous years, the event showcased how the MOD and industry are supporting operations in Afghanistan and attracted visitors from the military, civilian and industry backgrounds for two days of informal discussions, briefings and demonstrations.
At the heart of this year’s event were the discussions surrounding the integration and the development of a Land Open Systems Architecture (LOSA). LOSA seeks to develop and encourage systems integration and interoperability in order to deliver coherent military units for peace time training and for operations, now and into the future. Indeed, this approach will encourage systems to be multi-functional and compatible with those from different companies – making equipment more efficient, in terms of both cost and usability.
DVD2012’s unique setting at the Millbrook proving ground continues to provide an ideal opportunity for both the MOD and industry to share knowledge and skills in a fitting environment that enables practical demonstration. This element remains one of DVD’s key attractions and exhibitors were able to demonstrate their equipments’ capabilities on Millbrook’s bespoke off-road facility.
This year’s event attracted key members of the defence community; Major General Carew Wilks opened DVD2012 and was joined on day two of the event by Peter Luff, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology and Gerald Howarth, Minister for International Security Strategy.
Major General Carew Wilks, DE&S Director Land Equipment said: “DVD2012 was a success with a strong presence and engagement from across a wide cross sector of the industry, its supply chain and the user community. The breadth of the demonstrations served to highlight the challenges MOD faces and the understanding of industry in preparing to meet our forthcoming needs.
“My own personal highlights included the practical demonstrations of our Land Open Systems Architecture, especially highlighting how it works on Foxhound – the first vehicle to enter service using this open systems approach, and being able to spend quality time with industry colleagues discussing how we can best support the Armed Forces now and in the future. I was also pleased to be able to visit the Bloodhound Supersonic car and to learn more about some of the similarities between that project and our own Land Equipment work.”
DVD2012 provided a vital platform to bring together MOD and industry to focus on equipment capabilities in the Land sector. The scale of this year’s event once again highlights the huge volume of manufacturers that exist to support the MOD’s various land platforms in-service and the need for a unique event such as DVD. The exchange of ideas which this event generates helps the MoD to continue to provide the best possible equipment and support to the UK’s armed forces as they face the challenges of the future.