People are the real battle-winning capability
Following the acceptance of the recommendations in the Haythornthwaite review, the direction of travel for defence is towards a skills-based organisation. Areas of focus are emerging around a spectrum of service, total reward and a digital people management system.
Such a transformational shift when the competition for talent is so intense will require the bold step of challenging tradition, including the established career model. The current ‘Whole Force’ approach will evolve to consider defence as an ecosystem. Careers will zigzag across regular, reserve, civil service and industry, underpinned with a new employment model, skills framework and new ways of remunerating based on skills rather than rank.
To succeed, defence will need to understand where the competition for talent comes from in order to be clear on its offer. And it must maintain the confidence and pride of its people during the process. Cultural change, to enable more empowerment and autonomy, will be a key enabler.
Improving productivity will increase the effect of defence
Doubling defence’s effect by 2030 with the same number of people and platforms is a bold aim. It will mean removing layers of bureaucracy, optimising the defence operating model and creating a more sophisticated risk management system.
At its core, this is about getting a greater return on investment with improved readiness and increased platform availability. However, increasing defence outputs will require innovative approaches that look beyond just equipment and logistics. It will require greater use of synthetics, data exploitation, closer relationships with industry and the success of the revised people offer. For this to be effective, re-designed force generation and force operating models will be as important.
Strong international partnerships are needed to address state based threats
Alliances are a necessity to address the complex web of global threats, from Russia’s continuing strength of nuclear, naval and air forces in the Euro-Atlantic region, to challenges around China, North Korea and Iran. NATO is the priority. France remains the ‘closest European ally’ with the US the ‘pre-eminent bilateral partner’ and member, alongside Australia, in AUKUS. Elsewhere, Italy and Japan’s commitment to the Global Combat Air Programme aligns the interests of all three nations.
Effective consensus building through compromise will bring nations closer together on a long-term and sustainable footing politically, militarily and economically in the interests of security and prosperity.
Closer partnering with industry is the way to keep pace with innovation
A closer relationship with industry is the key to an agile response; one that keeps pace with battlespace innovation and builds resilient supply chains. National security will be based on the sovereign industrial base and a diversified supply chain built around allies (‘friendshoring’), but balanced with onshoring. And a premium will be placed on the exportability of capabilities.
This means reform of the acquisition system from domain and platform centric, to thematic and technology centric. The maximum five-year commitment for acquisition programmes and three-year commitment for digital programmes shows the growing importance placed on time over performance and cost.
Early involvement of industry is needed to refine requirements, improve productivity and align support solutions. This must be finely balanced with the need to drive innovation, commercial competition and ensure value for money. All in all, a significant philosophical change for defence. Senior leaders will need to stay the course, as they enact reforms and embed changes that challenge established ways of doing business and existing partnership arrangements. This is a significant undertaking, with the need to reset a large number of multi-year contractual agreements.
The accelerating rate of technology innovation requires a new approach
Technology cuts right across DCP23, from new skills and closer partnering with allies and industry to its potential to unlock productivity and operational advantage. This transformation into a technology-centric force will be enabled by a firm commitment to investment in science and technology (which has already surpassed the £6.6 billion target set out in Integrated Review 2021). But to successfully take advantage of new technologies, defence must create partnerships with startups and companies that have not traditionally worked in this sector. This will be a challenge in a heavily consolidated defence industrial sector and poses the question - what might a defence prime of the future look like?
Operational advantage will be gained by a focus on sustainability
Defence’s focus is the operational advantage to be gained by adaptation and the use of environmental technologies. This focus provides clearer direction on the driver for improved sustainability without compromising net zero targets. Net zero and effectiveness are not considered mutually exclusive. For example, whether fossil fuels or alternatives, fuel efficiency reduces the logistical burden of an expeditionary force and improves supply chain resilience, whilst significantly reducing costs of the home base. This demands technological and business innovation.
Sharper focus is the answer to forthcoming tough conversations on spending
DCP23 brings Europe into sharper focus while setting out the challenges facing MOD and the wider defence sector. A more detailed solution will follow a General Election, when the next defence review can be aligned with a spending review. Its utility in the interim is likely to be in informing difficult conversations across Whitehall about how best to allocate future spending. Focus needs to remain on improving outputs within current budgets to demonstrate value - with a critical importance placed on people, partnerships and productivity.
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