Articles
Pressure on government budgets will rewrite the rules of procurement for high-specification items such as defence equipment. Indeed, the defence secretary Liam Fox has outlined strict new rules on the procurement of large programmes which all defence suppliers should welcome in the pursuit of increased efficiency.
But the issue is not only about getting more for less; the UK must also ensure that it maintains its capability and safeguards its long-term engineering interests.
The cost of developing new technologies in defence, often over a number of years, means that large bespoke projects designed and manufactured by a single supplier are becoming rarer. The future lies in greater international co-operation and countries pooling industrial resources under a “best athlete” principle where contractors focus on their particular supply chain expertise.
So where should the UK look to increase efficiency in procuring future defence products, while ensuring that it does not lose its ability to maintain a strong industrial footprint in the sector? Europe is one source but the record of defence projects procured through this collaborative route has not always been positive.
The UK and the US have a long-standing, close relationship, with a common language and often shared interests, which has resulted in the mutual use of defence equipment in the air, sea and land environments. British soldiers in Afghanistan today are using surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles, rocket artillery and Apache helicopters that are common with their US partners.
The UK’s links with the US place us in an unrivalled position to benefit from the spending on research and development by the world’s biggest investor in defence technology, enabling us to procure the best products and potentially playing a role when those products are exported more widely.
There is no bigger current programme in defence than the US-led F-35 Lightning II fighter where the UK is the only Tier One partner in a global project that has more than 2,000 aircraft planned.
Utilising the skills of the industrial base, a significant percentage of every F-35, including those for the US armed forces, will be built in the UK. It reflects the skills and capabilities of the aerospace industry in this country, having successfully emerged from a world competition to play a major role in a programme of unprecedented magnitude.
The UK has also expressed its intention to buy more defence products that are already in service or production, commonly known as Cots (commercial off the shelf) options. Such products often incur lower costs in support through-life, providing additional benefits, particularly when the through-life cost of a product is often two or three times its initial purchase value.
Buying Cots can have benefits beyond cost savings and does not need to have an adverse impact on the industrial base. Large commitments often mean customers can leverage an in-country role in manufacture, besides gaining the technical knowledge to bolster indigenous capability.
The UK can no longer stand alone in the development and manufacture of major defence programmes if it wants to remain in the top tier of defence technology. By developing further its engineering links with the US, it can benefit directly from the most advanced products and continue to play a key role in the global marketplace.