Logistics as vital as combat arms, as ex-CDS warns of too many Nato supply chains

A former Chief of the Defence Staff has raised concerns about the number of different supply chains there are across Nato.

Air Chief Marshal Lord Peach said interoperability needed to be delivered - rather than just talked about.

He said it was wrong to have so many different supply chains and stressed the importance of learning lessons from the battlefield in Ukraine.

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Speaking to the House of Lords' European Affairs Committee, he said: "We really have to learn the lessons from the battlefield in Ukraine as they apply to this conversation and make sure we invest wisely and well."

Lord Peach warned that developing more efficient procurement across Nato members was now more urgent than ever in the current climate of uncertainty over Ukraine's future.

"One of the lessons again I particularly learned in Nato was interoperability is often talked about, but actually has to be delivered.

"It is absolutely wrong to have so many different supply chains, so many different types of ammunition and so on.

"And we can drive that forward through different structures, including through the way in which defence and security and resilience is funded."

Call to remain resilient

Lord Peach also said the war in Ukraine had showed where improvements can be made.

"Again, the lesson from Ukraine is the need to remain resilient, both in terms of increasing the resilience in the supply chain when needed and reducing the time it takes to innovate,” he explained.

"The time it takes to innovate should be a lesson that the Ukrainian battlefield has taught us - and taught us well.

"And we now need to apply it."