The commentary surrounding the release of the UK’s latest Strategic Defence Review (SDR) concentrated on its least interesting feature. The review is written on the assumption that during the next Parliament the share of GDP devoted to defence will rise to three per cent. The British government has endorsed this target without quite promising that it will be reached, because they can’t be sure of the state of the economy in five years time, or for that matter the international situation. We should in fact be interrogating the most important recommendations in the review, all of which require prompt implementation.
The strong impression it conveyed is that in two key and linked respects the Ministry of Defence is not fit for purpose. The first is that it has a peacetime mentality, as if it allows itself to take any amount of time to decide awkward issues, and that, second, this problem is most evident when it comes to procurement. The independent reviewers responsible for the report, Lord George Robertson, General Richard Barrons, and Dr Fiona Hill, insist that the challenge posed by the continuing Russo-Ukrainian war and the readiness of Moscow to think and act as if it is already in a wider conflict with the West mean a wartime mentality is needed right now.
Even taking a relaxed view of the Russian threat, the advantage of a wartime mentality lies in the sense of urgency it introduces, and the readiness it encourages to push aside unnecessary bureaucratic barriers. The work already conducted with the Ukrainian armed forces has demonstrated the benefits. This requires a more risk-taking approach from both government and industry: much of the report is about how this can be encouraged. One only needs to look at the number of iterations of drone warfare over the course of the Russo-Ukraine War, now used by both sides with more range, accuracy, and stealth than ever before, and in huge numbers.
If the normal processes had been followed by the time the initial requirements for a new system were generated, contracts agreed and then manufacturing allowed, real-time operational experience would have moved on out of all recognition. One feature of Ukraine’s fighting is its increasing digitisation. That leads to a proposal in the SDR for the early introduction of a ‘digital targeting web’ that will connect ‘sensors’, ‘deciders’, and ‘effectors’ to maximise their impact. This is part of a general push for a much more integrated force, moving beyond the current ‘jointery’ that allows the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force to keep their strong separate identities while encouraging closer cooperation.
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