UK ambitions fail to bridge the gap to fiscal reality
The UK National Audit Office last month released its annual assessment of the MoD Equipment Plan. This report makes some challenging reading, highlighting that for all the work undertaken by the MoD, it is still struggling to make the books balance.
Over the next ten years, the MoD expects to see a £7.3 billion ($10.18 billion) shortfall based on a predicted total budget of £190 billion.
Although this appears to be a far better performance than the £13 billion shortfall identified in the previous NAO report, cost growth is likely to get even worse over time, even with the £16.5
Our news & analysis is now part of Defence Insight®
A Basic-level or higher Defence Insight subscription is now required to view this content.
More from Defence Notes
-
Ukraine turns legacy Kongsberg land turrets into semi-autonomous USV weapons
The company told Shephard that Ukraine is operating modified Protector weapon stations originally supplied for armoured vehicles, with human operators authorising engagements from hundreds of kilometres away.
-
UK urged to prioritise sea, air and space over heavy armour
A report from the Council on Geostrategy argues the UK should move away from a traditional balanced force and shift investment to naval, air and space capabilities, backed by a larger fleet of attack submarines and deeper AUKUS integration.
-
Thales: deployment speed to determine winners in ‘production versus production’ era
At its technology summit in London, attended by Shephard, Thales UK examined the importance of speed to delivery, the growing focus on cross-domain capabilities and how procurement reform could be crucial for future battlefield advantage.
-
Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain
Are all systems ready for the next mission? Have upgrades been applied? Are all assets aligned to deploy together, on time and fully prepared? In modern defence operations, readiness is no longer measured platform by platform. It is measured by how well people, assets, data and decisions move together — across land, sea and air.