Defence Industrial Strategy

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The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) is a United Kingdom government policy which was published as a white paper on 15 December 2005. The purpose of the DIS is stated to be to ensure that the UK armed forces are provided with the equipment they require, on time, and at best value for money. This is achieved through the maintenance of sovereign capabilities, i.e. the capabilities of UK companies in key defence areas.

Contents

The DIS is structured into three parts. Part A outlines the strategy, part B reviews the UK defence industry, and part C describes the implications of the DIS and how it is to be implemented.

The DIS builds upon the Defence Industrial Policy published in 2002 and the Strategic Defence Review of 1998. UK defence procurement was radically changed by the government of Margaret Thatcher - cost plus contracts and "national champions" were abandoned in favour of competitive tendering. This made the UK defence procurement market the most open in the world [1] and in contrast to the European continent and America. [2] The DIS reverts to the concept of "national champions" to maintain vital capabilities, as identified by the Ministry of Defence "to maintain appropriate sovereignty and thereby protect UK national security." [3] The Defence Industries Council warned in 2004 that the continuation of a totally "open market" approach would see the UK "lose almost completely the strong industrial base that has supplied our armed forces. UK sovereignty could be threatened." [4]

The DIS has been widely seen as confirming BAE Systems as the UK's "national champion". [1] [2] Of the key industrial capabilities which must be maintained several are dominated by BAE, including naval vessels and submarines, armoured fighting vehicles (over 95% of the UK’s AFVs are BAE products), fixed-wing aircraft, general munitions (with the exception of certain "niche capabilities abroad") and Network Enabled Capability (defined as C4ISTAR in the DIS). After the publication of the DIS BAE Systems CEO Mike Turner said "If we didn't have the DIS and our profitability and the terms of trade had stayed as they were... then there had to be a question mark about our future in the U.K." [5]

The year after the release of the DIS the government released the Defence Technology Strategy which takes forward some of the themes introduced in the DIS. This document discusses where science and technology research should focus on to deliver the capabilities identified in the DIS. An updated version of the DTS is expected to be published by the Defence Technology Innovation Centre (DTIC) in 2008.

Follow-on strategies

After the following coalition government came to power, it initiated the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 and later published a white paper titled "National security through technology" in 2012. [6] The following government initiated the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 then held a consultation on a "Defence industrial policy" in 2016. [7]

Related Research Articles

BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. As of 2017, it is the biggest manufacturer in Britain. Its largest operations are in the United Kingdom and United States, where its BAE Systems Inc. subsidiary is one of the six largest suppliers to the US Department of Defense. Other major markets include Australia, Canada, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Oman and Sweden, where Saudi Arabia is regularly among its top three sources of revenue. The company was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion purchase of and merger with Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc (GEC), by British Aerospace, an aircraft, munitions and naval systems manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)</span> UK Government department responsible for defence

The Ministry of Defence is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National security</span> Security and defence of a nation state

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defence Intelligence</span> Intelligence agency of the United Kingdom

Defence Intelligence (DI) is an organisation within the United Kingdom intelligence community which focuses on gathering and analysing military intelligence. It differs from the UK's intelligence agencies in that it is an integral part of a government department – the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – rather than a stand-alone organisation. The organisation employs a mixture of civilian and military staff and is funded within the UK's defence budget. The organisation was formerly known as the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS), but changed its name in 2009.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Defence Agency</span> Agency of the European Union

The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that promotes and facilitates integration between member states within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The EDA is headed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Commission’s Vice President (HR/VP), and reports to the Council. The EDA was established on 12 July 2004 and is based in Brussels, Belgium, along with a number of other CSDP bodies.

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A Defence Review is the process by which government of the United Kingdom decides upon its overall defence policy and upon the means and resources devoted to achieving its defence objectives. Such reviews can happen when political or economic factors dictate, such as upon a change of Government. The Defence Review will normally result in the publication of a policy document, styled a White Paper and released to parliament as a Command paper, setting out the broad aims, objectives, and rationale for the policy and strategy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military acquisition</span>

Military acquisition or defense acquisition is the "bureaucratic management and procurement process", dealing with a nation's investments in the technologies, programs, and product support necessary to achieve its national security strategy and support its armed forces. Its objective is to acquire products that satisfy specified needs and provide measurable improvement to mission capability at a fair and reasonable price.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Defence (Malaysia)</span>

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ADS Group Limited, informally known as ADS, is the trade organisation representing the aerospace, defence, security and space industries in the United Kingdom. It has more than 1,000 member companies across its sectors, including some of the UK's largest manufacturers, like Airbus, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Meggitt PLC and GKN.

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The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, often known as the Integrated Review, and titled as Global Britain in a Competitive Age, was a review carried out by the British government led by Boris Johnson into the foreign, defence, security and international development policies of the United Kingdom. Described by Johnson as "the largest review of its kind since the Cold War", the review was published on 16 March 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 Barrie, Douglas (2005-12-15). "Brave New World; British grapple with imperatives of future defense industrial requirements, including pursuing UCAV and strategic UAV technology". Aviation Week & Space Technology. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. p. 16.
  2. 1 2 "The Turner prize; Defence procurement". The Economist. The Economist Newspapers Ltd. 2006-01-07.
  3. ↑ "Defence Industrial Strategy: Defence White Paper" (PDF). UK Ministry of Defence. December 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2006-12-17.
  4. ↑ Hawkins, William R. (2004-11-10). "Saving the U.S. Defense Industrial Base". AmericanEconomicAlert. Archived from the original on 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
  5. ↑ Barrie, Douglas (2005-12-07). "British Defense Industrial Strategy Secures BAE Systems as U.K. Champion". Aviation Week & Space Technology. The McGraw-Hill Companies. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
  6. ↑ National security through technology (Report). Ministry of Defence. 1 February 2012. ISBN   978-0-10-182782-9 . Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Defence industrial policy". Ministry of Defence. 22 November 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
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