09 Jan 25. Defence Committee to publish report “The Global Combat Air Programme.” The Defence Committee will publish its report “The Global Combat Air Programme” at 00.01 on Tuesday 14 January 2025. Embargoed copies will be available on Monday 13 January.
09 Jan 25. Chair Correspondence: Armed Forces Covenant.
MOD lifts restriction on serving personnel giving evidence for Armed Forces Covenant inquiry
On the request of the Defence Committee, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Rt Hon. John Healey, has granted special dispensation to Service Personnel to provide evidence to the Committee’s inquiry into the Armed Forces Covenant. Following the Secretary of State’s decision, Service Personnel will be able to share with the Committee their views on how well the Armed Forces Covenant is working for them and how it might be improved.
The Committee’s inquiry examines how well the Covenant is serving the Armed Forces community, where it is failing them and why. It examines how the scope of the Covenant might be extended. The Government has indicated that changes to the Covenant could be introduced as part of the Armed Forces Bill in the next Parliamentary session, and the inquiry will be an opportunity to influence this legislation. The portal for submitting written evidence can be found here. The deadline for written evidence submissions is Friday 24 January 2025.
MOD has indicated it is content for serving personnel and civil servants to submit written evidence to the inquiry on the understanding that:
* It is in a personal capacity;
* In line with long-standing principles as Crown Servants, submissions from those employed by the MOD only comment on personal experiences and not matters of policy; and
* Those submitting evidence do not reveal private information about other people.
As some submissions may contain sensitive personal information, the Committee will not publish submissions relating to individual experiences without first consulting the individuals concerned.
Chair of the Defence Committee, Tan Dhesi MP, said: “I am pleased that the Defence Secretary has lifted the restriction on Service Personnel giving evidence to the Defence Committee for our inquiry into the Armed Forces Covenant. It is essential that Service Personnel are able to contribute to this inquiry and we encourage them to get in touch to let us know how well the Covenant is working for them and how it might be improved. The Covenant is a contract between the country and Service Personnel: acknowledging the sacrifices that personnel make and promising to treat them with respect and fairness. The Armed Forces Covenant Act cannot just be words on a page, and this inquiry is investigating whether the Covenant is working as intended. I would urge any serving personnel to take this opportunity to submit evidence, and make their voices heard.”
The Committee welcomes written evidence on:
* In what areas is the Armed Forces Covenant working well?
* Where is the Armed Forces Covenant failing the Armed Forces Community?
* What are the main causes for these failings?
* Are there areas which the Armed Forces Covenant ought to be extended to and why?
* If so, which are the priority areas?
* What legislative changes should be made and why?
* What impact would the extension of the Armed Forces Covenant legal duty to central government and devolved administrations have?
Each submission should be no longer than 3,000 words and contain a brief introduction about the author. Submissions should be in malleable format such as MS Word (not PDFs) with no use of colour, logos or photos. Further guidance is available on our Written Evidence Guidance.?
09 Jan 25. Defence Committee: MOD must learn from Ukraine and embrace AI.
Ukraine has shown that artificial intelligence (AI) is already delivering military advantage in conflict and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) should embrace the change AI is bringing to defence, a report by the Defence Committee has found.
Chair of the Sub-Committee on Developing AI capacity and expertise in UK Defence, Emma Lewell-Buck MP, said: “Artificial intelligence in defence is here to stay – the UK must move fast to avoid falling behind.
The use of AI in Ukraine shows that it offers serious military advantage on the battlefield, and as AI becomes more widespread and sophisticated, it will change the way defence works, from the back office to the frontline.
“Harnessing AI for defence requires not just updated technology but an updated approach, and in today’s report, we call on the Ministry of Defence to transform itself into an ‘AI-native’ organisation, fully integrating AI into its work and mindset. Our report finds that the UK is ripe with opportunity and has the potential to become world-leading in Defence AI. But if we are to realise this potential, the Ministry of Defence must take a proactive approach and nurture the UK’s industry. While the UK’s Defence AI sector may not compete with the USA and China when it comes to scale, we can offer valuable specialism and sophistication. Our inquiry discovered a gap between the Ministry of Defence’s rhetoric and reality on AI. While the department acknowledges the importance of AI, these words have not been borne out by action. With the global threat picture ever-worsening, and the pace of technological change moving at a rapid speed, the Ministry of Defence has no time to lose. The Government’s Strategic Defence Review is an opportunity to modernise defence. In order to do this, it must reflect the new reality of an AI-enabled world.”
MOD’s mismatched “rhetoric and reality” on AI capabilities
The report highlights a gap between the MOD’s rhetoric on AI and the reality: while MOD policy documents talk about AI as a transformative development, the department does not behave as though this is the case. Too often AI is still treated as a novelty rather than as something that will soon be a core part of defence’s toolkit, and while the Defence AI Strategy correctly identifies the potential for AI to transform defence it offers few specifics on how this will be achieved.
The Committee calls for the MOD’s “say-do” gap to be closed, and for the MOD to become an “AI native” organisation, with AI a core part of the department’s toolkit. The ongoing Strategic Defence Review offers an opportunity for the MOD to accelerate this change.
MOD must develop UK Defence AI Industry to be “first-class”
The report finds that the UK has natural strengths that could allow it to develop first-class specialisms in Defence AI, but the sector is at present under-developed and needs cultivating.
The Committee calls on the MOD to identify the gaps in the UK’s Defence AI sector, including in digital infrastructure, data management and the AI skills base. The report finds that the MOD has not provided a clear enough signal to industry on the type of AI the department is interested in acquiring or clear signposts for business opportunities.
The MOD is likely to need to work with smaller and non-traditional defence suppliers. The Committee urges the MOD to overcome the barriers that currently prevent such companies from working with Defence, such as complex procurement processes and difficulties obtaining security clearance for staff.
The report identifies a culture clash, with the tech industry adopting a “fail fast” mindset and model of rapid, iterative development. The Committee calls on the MOD to become more comfortable with rapid change, more open to experimentation and risk, and more able to deploy and iterate cheaper, disposable, software-led solutions on faster timelines.
AI interoperability with allies
The UK’s Defence AI systems will be most effective when interoperable with NATO and AUKUS allies. The report calls for dialogue over shared approaches to data collection and labelling and the ethical use of autonomous technologies, and joint working on skills and capacity building.
08 Jan 25. UK confirm tests of helicopter exhaust impact on personnel start. An investigation of claims going back to 2019 has been in process, and testing will begin this month. In a prepared statement to the House of Commons on 6 January 2025, a senior UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) official, Al Carns, confirmed the government will begin tests to determine the impact of exhaust emissions from in-service helicopters on personnel this month.
An investigation opened after a string of common law claims from service people alleging adverse impact from fuel and fumes going back to 2019.
Despite making five compensation payments worth more than £3.5bn ($4.4m) since 23 April 2023, another MoD official specified that there is currently no admission of liability on the government’s part in a parliamentary written response on 26 November 2024.
The Times reported that as many as 100 current and former service people or their families were in the process of suing the government.
During the latest parliamentary session, the Labour MP Jayne Kirkham noted cases of “blood cancers and sarcomas in veterans and current service personnel.”
Carns agreed to meet with Kirkham to discuss the current figures of those affected. The Minister reassured that “this month the MoD is intiating the testing of exhaust emissions of in-service helicopters to ensure we’re meeting our duty of care.”
The British military operate a range of helicopters for different operations including the new AH-64E Apache attack helicopter (Army); the multi-role Wildcat (Army, Navy); CH-47F Chinook (Air); and Merlin (Navy) among several others, including some approaching obsolescence such as the Puma (Navy).
According to the UK government, there are 294 rotary-wing aircraft across the armed forces as of April last year.
It is worth noting that the MoD does not publish any data on specific military missions for reasons of national security. “Nor as far as we can gather does it submit to third-party verification of any efforts to reduce these [environmental] impacts,” according to a report from Scientists for Global Responsibility. (Source: army-technology.com)
06 Jan 25. Defence Committee to publish report on Defence AI. The Defence Committee will publish its report on Developing AI capacity and expertise in UK Defence on Friday 10 January 2025. Embargoed copies will be available on Thursday 9 January. If you are in receipt of this email, you will automatically receive a copy.