The refreshed Defence Command Paper (DCP23) sets out how Defence will respond to the changing context and deliver on the Integrated Review Refresh.
“New technologies are not gimmicks, they're fundamentally key to how we fight a modern war” - Ben Wallace, July 18, 2023
The Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, presented to the House his “refresh” of the 2021 Defence Command Paper.
The Minister responded to MPs' questions by emphasising that this was a refresh, not an overhaul, and so there were no headline-grabbing changes to highlight for techUK members.
Nonetheless, the paper does heavily reflect the challenges that the MOD has faced during the war in Ukraine, with the Minister calling the conflict a “Wartime Battlelab”.
Broken down into chapters based on priorities, the paper focuses on:
- People
- Science, Innovation, and Technology
- The MOD's relationship with Industry
- Productivity
- Deterrence and Defence
- Campaigning and Global Competition
- Partnerships
- Strategic Resilience
In this insight, techUK has summarised the headline strategic conclusions, as well as highlighting digital and technology-specific commitments contained in DCP23 for members.
These are:
- Defence will become a Science and Technology superpower, enhancing UK capabilities in fields such as robotics, human augmentation, directed energy weapons and advanced materials, to gain the edge on the battlefield
- A new alliance with industry, engaging much earlier in strategic conversations and building in greater financial headroom to respond to changing needs
- A plan to invest significantly more than £6.6 billion in advanced Research and Development (R&D), to seize the opportunities presented by new and emerging technologies. Also increased investment in in-house capabilities in those areas which are key to evolving security challenges and future technological advances
- An additional £2.5 billion investment into stockpiles and munitions, on top of the increased investment committed at the Autumn Statement
- A Global Response Force that enables the UK to ‘get there first', bringing together deployed and high-readiness forces, and drawing on capabilities from all domains
- An improved surge capacity through a Strategic Reserve, built around the ex-regular reserve forces to add further depth and expertise in time of crisis.
DCP23's overarching aim:
“Secure strategic advantage, achieve greater economic and industrial resilience, and contribute to national prosperity.
How: By investing in our people, exploiting innovation in digital, data and science & technology, forging a closer relationship with industry, improving our acquisition processes, adopting an activist approach to defence exports, and maximising our productivity, enhancing readiness and lethality”
What has been “refreshed”?
1) On NATO and the MOD's world view:
Compared to DCP21, DCP23 shows continued emphasis on the importance of NATO and the context of ‘allied by design'. There is in this paper a much greater emphasis on the role of NATO and how the UK is committing forces to it and the importance of doing so. The MOD is showing its direction of interests and prioritisation seems, broadly, to be focused on Europe, the Indo-Pacific and then the Middle East, with Africa and Latin America being seen as lower priorities. This is a constant from previous years, making clear where the balance of effort and investment will be and where the UK will focus Defence resources in support of wider foreign policy.
2) Acquisition reform
Whilst acknowledging the lack of additional platforms in the land, sea, air, or space domains, techUK members will see the importance of one element of DCP23: that of acquisition reform.
Criticism of the MOD has centred round a perceived failure to spend its budget (more than £45bn in 2021/2022) in an efficient way, certainly when compared to European partners or those further afield. DCP23 commits the department to programmes that are delivered faster, using more open architectures and utilising spiral development.
“The experience of Ukraine has reminded us that accepting 80% can deliver effective and robust capability into the hands of the users today. Waiting for 100% - the exquisite solution - may mean losing strategic advantage”
In summary, the MOD will look to set a maximum five-year commitment for acquisition programmes, with a maximum three-year commitment for those in the digital sector.
In addition, a new Integrated Design Authority (IDA) will “work with allies and across the Defence industrial sector” to create “open standards” for UK Defence platform operating systems. The principle aim of the IDA will be to “optimise UK Defence integration”.
3) Lessons from Ukraine
“The war in Ukraine highlights the importance of the credibility of our capabilities, both conventional and nuclear, on the earth or in space or cyberspace, to or in space or cyberspace, to deter threats against us. It affirms the modern western way of warfare: joint and all-domain, underpinned by data and information, both open-source and highly classified. It also emphasises the urgent requirement to continue to modernise the force to keep pace with technological developments today, and to evolve to meet the threats of the future. It reinforces the need to understand and exploit the impact of digital capabilities, and invest in them now to enable greater precision, speed, lethality and mass. There is a requirement for sufficient mass and game-changing technology, with the two often combined. Both our ability - through the capabilities we possess and our skill at employing them - and our will, demonstrably and convincingly to defend our territories and our Allies, are critical to our deterrent effect.”
4) How the MOD plans to interact with Industry
“The value of adaptability at pace - agility - on the battlefield has become clear. We have learned that staying ahead of the threat and gaining strategic advantage can be achieved through novel and creative means, exploiting technology and adapting weapons systems, such as Uncrewed Air Systems, during contact, rather than relying entirely on an existing force package. This underscores the requirement for a more agile acquisition process and an even stronger partnership between government and industry, both primes and small- and medium-sized enterprises. The versatility of the whole UK Defence enterprise, with the flexibility to respond to changing threats and adapt to new technologies, must become its strength, and will be critical to ensuring the enduring credibility of the force”
In this passage, the MOD is again emphasising the will to do more with industry and to engage in more effective cooperation. techUK members will no doubt applaud this whilst recognising the need for a defined path to a properly joined-up and integrated approach to this process, from requirement generation and industry solutions through to delivery and support. There is also a lack of definition in DCP23 on how this commitment will stand up to planning round changes.
As an example, DCP23 has said that MOD will ‘work with industry and the City to ensure that funding markets understand more clearly the critical need for our world-class UK suppliers to gain access to third-party revenue and financial services so that defence suppliers are not disadvantaged'. techUK members will welcome this commitment, but DCP23 also acknowledges that CSG and ESG policy is dictated by the Treasury, not the MOD. This disconnect disproportionally impacts SMEs and non-traditional suppliers seeking to break into or grow their business in the sector.
5) Innovation
“Modernisation is the key to our fighting edge. We will accelerate the modernisation of our capabilities, through innovation and experimentation. We need to continue to prioritise research and development, and science and technology, working ever closer with industry to achieve faster pull-through of next-generation capabilities. Our strategic advantage is maintained when Government and industry are working in lockstep. A common endeavour will ensure clearer requirements, secure a robust industrial base and resilient supply chains, and enable faster development and fielding of new capabilities”
Large parts of the paper are dedicated to emerging Science and Technology research and AI, with the headline commitment to spend more than £6.6bn on Science in coming years. techUK members should note that this figure was in fact first announced in 2021 - DCP23 repeats it. Again, the paper is short on detail on how S&T will be integrated into the Front-Line Commands. More encouragingly, wargaming is featured and recognised as vital for the first time.
6) Digital
“We will seize the game-changing opportunities offered by the digital advances of recent years to maintain a decisive advantage against our adversaries. This will mean shifting our thinking to fully integrate both steel and software, iteratively developing - spiralling - our existing capabilities to achieve battle-winning advantage. This also requires us to invest in enhancing the skills of our people, and to take our Allies with us on the journey”
The techUK Defence team will work in particular to promote engagement with MOD projects such as the Digital Foundry and make sure our members have a voice in advising MOD on how they will achieve this ambition.
What it doesn't say
Many Defence commentators have noted that there is no commitment in DCP23 to future force structures.
A final note:
This is very much a refresh and goes heavy on lessons learned from the Ukraine conflict. With an election year fast approaching, there will be a further full Defence review post-election, and the next Integrated Review is scheduled to take place in 2025.