buglerbilly
01-07-11, 05:06 PM
By ANDREW CHUTER
Published: 1 Jul 2011 11:45
LONDON - The British government failed to take account of the impact on the defense industry when it rushed out its strategic defense and security review last October, according to a report published July 1 by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) here.
The on-shore industrial base "seemed to be a key enabling ingredient that was woefully ill-considered and unrepresented by the 2010 policy review," said the authors of the report.
Entitled "The Defence Industrial Ecosystem," the report criticized the government for producing a defense review that was "short-term in nature, rushed and undertaken without full regard to all the forces, factors and variables that coagulate to form defence and security capability."
http://www.rusi.org/downloads/assets/WHR_2-11.pdf
RUSI researchers Henrik Heidenkamp, John Louth and Trevor Taylor said that a national discourse on the essential role of the defense manufacturing and service industries is long overdue. The outcome of the defense review would "surely impact upon industry and add a further layer of challenge to corporate decision-making," they said.
Industry executives here said that while they had been consulted by the MoD, the actual decisions were made by the National Security Council, with business kept at arm's length.
The Conservative-led coalition government's defense review was shaped by the need to cut spending in the sector by 7.5 percent over the next four years, as well as attempting to slash what it says is a 38 billion pound ($61 billion) black hole in the budget up to 2020 caused by unfunded liabilities built up by the previous Labour administration.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said last year that more than 20 billion pounds of that shortfall was in equipment and program spending.
The review cut capabilities and programs across the three services, including warships, fast jets, surveillance aircraft, tanks and artillery, but didn't go nearly far enough to achieve the required savings.
Estimates vary as to how big a financial black hole remains, but the Financial Times on July 1 quoted sources as saying it was between 10 billion and 20 billion pounds.
A new three-month study by the MoD aimed at finding further measures to reduce the budget deficit is coming to a close. Some here refer to the review as Strategic Defence and Security Review Part 2. The outcome of this latest cost-cutting effort is unlikely to be announced before Parliament goes into summer recess later this month, say MoD insiders.
October is the new date being mentioned for an announcement, as the Ministry of Defence contemplates further substantial cuts to military capabilities and programs to satisfy government demands.
The options for cuts, many of which are thought to be controversial, have already been delivered to Prime Minister David Cameron's officials for a decision, said the MoD sources.
Cameron is said by some industry executives and analysts here as being largely unsympathetic to the defense sector.
A government defense industrial and technology policy white paper was scheduled to follow on the heels of last year's defense review. Publication of that has been postponed until the implications on industry of the latest three-month defense review can be worked through.
In a June 27 speech at the Reform think tank here, Fox said the white paper will "emphasize open competition in the global market, buying off the shelf where we can, and only using single-source suppliers where we must."
Later that day, Fox unveiled plans for reforms in the way the MoD is organized and managed, including giving service chiefs control of their own budgets and the creation of a Joint Forces Command.
Published: 1 Jul 2011 11:45
LONDON - The British government failed to take account of the impact on the defense industry when it rushed out its strategic defense and security review last October, according to a report published July 1 by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) here.
The on-shore industrial base "seemed to be a key enabling ingredient that was woefully ill-considered and unrepresented by the 2010 policy review," said the authors of the report.
Entitled "The Defence Industrial Ecosystem," the report criticized the government for producing a defense review that was "short-term in nature, rushed and undertaken without full regard to all the forces, factors and variables that coagulate to form defence and security capability."
http://www.rusi.org/downloads/assets/WHR_2-11.pdf
RUSI researchers Henrik Heidenkamp, John Louth and Trevor Taylor said that a national discourse on the essential role of the defense manufacturing and service industries is long overdue. The outcome of the defense review would "surely impact upon industry and add a further layer of challenge to corporate decision-making," they said.
Industry executives here said that while they had been consulted by the MoD, the actual decisions were made by the National Security Council, with business kept at arm's length.
The Conservative-led coalition government's defense review was shaped by the need to cut spending in the sector by 7.5 percent over the next four years, as well as attempting to slash what it says is a 38 billion pound ($61 billion) black hole in the budget up to 2020 caused by unfunded liabilities built up by the previous Labour administration.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said last year that more than 20 billion pounds of that shortfall was in equipment and program spending.
The review cut capabilities and programs across the three services, including warships, fast jets, surveillance aircraft, tanks and artillery, but didn't go nearly far enough to achieve the required savings.
Estimates vary as to how big a financial black hole remains, but the Financial Times on July 1 quoted sources as saying it was between 10 billion and 20 billion pounds.
A new three-month study by the MoD aimed at finding further measures to reduce the budget deficit is coming to a close. Some here refer to the review as Strategic Defence and Security Review Part 2. The outcome of this latest cost-cutting effort is unlikely to be announced before Parliament goes into summer recess later this month, say MoD insiders.
October is the new date being mentioned for an announcement, as the Ministry of Defence contemplates further substantial cuts to military capabilities and programs to satisfy government demands.
The options for cuts, many of which are thought to be controversial, have already been delivered to Prime Minister David Cameron's officials for a decision, said the MoD sources.
Cameron is said by some industry executives and analysts here as being largely unsympathetic to the defense sector.
A government defense industrial and technology policy white paper was scheduled to follow on the heels of last year's defense review. Publication of that has been postponed until the implications on industry of the latest three-month defense review can be worked through.
In a June 27 speech at the Reform think tank here, Fox said the white paper will "emphasize open competition in the global market, buying off the shelf where we can, and only using single-source suppliers where we must."
Later that day, Fox unveiled plans for reforms in the way the MoD is organized and managed, including giving service chiefs control of their own budgets and the creation of a Joint Forces Command.