British Defence News
Edited by Andy Ross
Did Brown Bury Damning Report?
By Alex Barker and Jeremy Lemer
FT, August 5, 2009
Gordon Brown was accused of suppressing a "damning" review of defence
procurement policy that concluded billions of pounds were being wasted. The
report by Bernard Gray, a former adviser to the Ministry of Defence, was due to
be published in July but was delayed after ministers announced that work would
begin on a strategic defence review.
The Gray report finds that the MoD has just two-thirds of the funds it needs to
meet existing commitments to buy equipment. The shortfall pushes up costs by
forcing project delays, wasting up to £2.5 billion a year. Defence Equipment and
Support, the MoD procurement agency, would benefit from more private-sector
expertise.
Compensating Injured Soldiers
By Alex Barker,
FT, August 3, 2009
The regime for compensating wounded soldiers appeared in disarray as Downing
Street expressed sympathy with a senior government aide who described the policy
as "profoundly wrong". The Ministry of Defence is pressing ahead with a legal
case to reduce compensation to two wounded servicemen, even after Eric Joyce, a
parliamentary aide to the defence secretary, said it would "represent a victory
for bureaucracy over bravery".
A review is under way that is likely to sanction compensation for both original
injuries and later medical complications. There is deep unease across Whitehall
over a case that appears to pit the MoD against injured war heroes from
Afghanistan and Iraq.
Fewer Eurofighters
By Jeremy Lemer
FT, July 31, 2009
The four partner nations behind the Eurofighter Typhoon have signed a long
awaited deal for the third batch of the fighter jets, but the UK ministry of
defence cut short any celebrations by ruling out plans to buy its final quota of
aircraft.
Officials meeting in Germany placed orders worth €9 billion for 112 aircraft
with the Eurofighter consortium, including BAE Systems and EADS, in return for
commitments to cut the cost of supporting the platforms over their 30 year life
span by up to 50 percent. For the UK, that could mean savings of around £900
million.
Britain signed up for its initial portion of 40 aircraft, including 24 export
replacements, for about £3 billion. Quentin Davies, minister for defence
procurement, said the UK had no "foreseeable plans" for purchasing further jets.
Other countries, such as Germany, have also considered scaling back their
purchases. In June the head of the German parliamentary defence committee said
the country could not afford its full complement of 180 Eurofighters, although
the defence ministry maintains it is committed to the quota.
In 1998 when the umbrella production contract was signed, the UK agreed to take
323 of 620 aircraft, with the rest split among its partners, Germany, Italy, and
Spain, in three tranches running until well beyond 2012.
Army Vehicle Procurement
By Jeremy Lemer
FT, July 23, 2009
The government is moving ahead with a £16 billion programme to acquire thousands
of multi-purpose armoured vehicles for the military, described by a group of MPs
as a "fiasco" earlier in the year.
Soon the Ministry of Defence will send a final invitation to contractors BAE
Systems and General Dynamics (UK) to bid for a chunk of the Future Rapid Effects
System project worth up to £2 billion. The tender is for 600 tracked vehicles to
replace Britain’s aging fleet of Scimitars and Spartans.
Earlier in July, Quentin Davies, procurement minister, said the vehicles would
"play a major role in current operations and in equipping the army to stand
ready to respond to a wide range of contingencies in the future".
In total the MoD plans to buy about 1200 specialist vehicles comprising three
families, including reconnaissance, medium armour and manoeuvre support. The
purchase is just one part of the FRES programme to buy a new fleet of 3000
armoured vehicles using common basic components to cut costs.
Helicopter Clarification
By George Parker
FT, July 22, 2009
Gordon Brown on Wednesday ordered a Foreign Office minister to "clarify" claims
that Britain’s troops did not have enough helicopters in Afghanistan and
insisted that recent deaths on the front line were not due to a lack of air
support.
Lord Malloch-Brown, the Foreign Office minister responsible for Afghanistan,
infuriated the prime minister by giving a valedictory interview in which he
said: "We definitely don’t have enough helicopters."
Big Navy Deal
By Jeremy Lemer
FT, July 21, 2009
The Ministry of Defence and BVT Surface Fleet, a joint venture between BAE
Systems and VT Group, have signed a landmark agreement worth at least £3.5
billion to sustain the British shipbuilding industry over the next 15 years.
Under the legally binding agreement, BVT has committed to find at least £350
million of cost savings over 15 years in return for a guaranteed minimum
workload from the MoD estimated at about £235 million a year. BVT will have
"exclusive" rights to design, build, integrate and support shipbuilding
programmes such as the Future Surface Combatant to replace Britain’s ageing Type
23 frigates.
The Type 45 destroyers are running at least two years late and nearly £1.5
billion over budget, and in June the MoD revealed that its decision to delay the
two aircraft carriers for two years had led to a £1 billion increase in costs.
No Defence Budget Cuts?
By George Parker and Chris Giles
FT, July 19, 2009
Lord Mandelson added defence to the list of "essential frontline services" that
Labour wants to protect from spending cuts.
The Treasury's plans assume cuts in defence spending in both nominal and real
terms next year. In 2010-11, total defence spending is projected by the Treasury
to fall by just over £2 billion to £45.5 billion.
David Cameron, Conservative leader, promised that a Tory government would
provide frontline troops with the equipment they needed but did not promise to
exempt defence from cuts.
New British Army Head
By James Blitz
FT, July 17, 2009
Gordon Brown is viewing the arrival of a new head of the British Army next month
as an opportunity to draw a line under an embarrassing period of public
infighting between the government and the military over the Afghan war.
As General Sir Richard Dannatt, the chief of the general staff, on Friday
publicly stepped up demands for more resources for British troops fighting in
Helmand, Downing Street insiders made clear that relations with him had
seriously deteriorated. They indicated that working with his replacement,
General Sir David Richards, the current army number two who takes over in
August, should be easier.
In a BBC interview, General Dannatt said he was compiling a "shopping list" of
items the army would need in Helmand. A Downing Street spokesman said that the
prime minister would look at the list "very seriously".
Nuclear Sub Plans
By James Blitz
FT, July 16, 2009
The government is to delay a spending decision affecting plans to replace its
independent nuclear deterrent. Officials said the government would not place the
initial design contract to build a new submarine platform for the deterrent
until after the 2010 general election.
Plans for four new submarines to replace the existing Vanguard fleet would have
cost up to £3 billion as the first tranche of spending in a £20 billion project
intended to put new submarines in service by 2024. A critical decision is
whether to have three or four submarines. Coming down to three submarines could
force a UK compromise on its commitment to maintain continuous at-sea
deterrence.
The government also made clear that it would only cut its 160 operational
warheads if the US and Russia made deeper cuts in their arsenals than they are
projected to agree this year.
AR Altogether, this seems a rather gloomy outlook, but if that's all we can afford ...
