UK Ministry of Defence, No one in the defence industry will be spared the effects of the Defence Industrial Strategy. This drive to bring value and quality to the front line is simply revolutionary.
MOD's new strategy for the defence industry is remarkably radical. It is nothing less than a philosophy which will guide defence procurement planning and the relationship between MOD and its suppliers for decades to come.
Smart acquisition summed up an earlier shift in attitudes towards procurement, and it has been stressed that the lessons and successes of this will be built upon, but the industry needs to adapt to take into account the changing marketplace and MOD's future equipment needs.
Within MOD, the new Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) will concentrate on five specific areas:
–Developing through-life relationships with industry
–Delivering integrated capability solutions
–Streamlining acquisition processes to maximise innovation, agility and flexibility
–Ensuring consistency of approach
–Identifying, enhancing, recognising and managing professional delivery skills
The strategy, which is now moving fast towards practice, makes it clear that MOD as customers and the industry as suppliers must work ever more closely together, thinking and planning over longer periods and focusing capability through-life, as emphasis shifts over the next decade from new platforms to inserting new technology into existing equipment.
It recognises that, as the force of globalisation in trade becomes increasingly powerful, we can in many areas access the best in the world from the global market. But strategic skills and industrial capabilities must be retained to ensure independence.
In many sectors the strategy seeks a less adversarial relationship with industry, favouring long-term relationships that will ensure good relations and cooperation for products that are, increasingly, enjoying lifespans of many decades. The planned new aircraft carriers and Eurofighter Typhoon, for example, are likely to be with us (in vastly updated forms) several decades from now.
When considering this issue shortly after his appointment last year, Defence Secretary John Reid wasted no time in asking the Minister for Defence Procurement, Lord Drayson, who has great experience in commerce and industry, to begin planning and drafting the new strategy. That John Reid is pleased with the outcome shines through in his statements about the DIS.
The will to make change
“The department,” said Dr Reid, “is planning for the armed forces of the future to be agile, flexible and effective wherever in the world they are deployed to protect British interests and international stability.
“This is the reason for our large and comprehensive forward equipment programme. But the armed forces
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