Boost for UK defence sector jobs as Healey announces wargame with a difference

A first-of-its-kind wargame is to begin involving the UK defence industry as part of government plans to develop a faster, more resilient supply chain.

It comes as part of Defence Secretary John Healey's launch of the Government's Defence Industrial Strategy, which aims to increase UK jobs in the defence sector and secure growth.

The wargame will explore how companies and the Ministry of Defence could sustain personnel on the frontline when faced with constant supply chain disruption and intense fighting.

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Firms will be asked if they can supply and move kit – such as weapons, ammunition, health supplies, drone replacements and other crucial units like armoured vehicles – to wherever it is needed.

Mr Healey says the new approach is to embrace the latest technology, with UK companies prioritised for investment.

It is the first Defence Industrial Strategy since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and comes at a time of increasing global threats and instability.

The government hopes the measures set out will strengthen national security and demonstrate the UK has an industrial base that can innovate at a wartime pace.

Speaking at a London Defence Conference event with investors in London, Healey will lay out his ambition to increase defence sector jobs in "every nation and region of the UK".

With a strong defence sector to provide "the foundation for a decade of national renewal".

Investors, innovators, industry and trade unions will be invited to give their views on how to grow a better, more integrated, more innovative and more resilient defence sector.

The government hopes the new strategy will "mobilise the private sector to help face down global threats".

In a show of support for this approach, defence companies across the UK are announcing major new investments.

Helsing, Europe's largest defence AI company, is to mass-produce thousands of new AI-enabled drones, as part of its £350m investment into the UK over the next five years.

BAE Systems is to recruit thousands more staff alongside a major new investment in skills.

Babcock will announce almost 1,500 new early career roles with graduate and apprenticeship opportunities to support UK defence over the coming year. 

Rolls-Royce has opened a new office in Glasgow to support the delivery of major UK submarine programmes, which will play a crucial role in attracting skilled employees and supporting regional growth. 

The new Defence Industrial Strategy will align with the Strategic Defence Review which is to be published in the spring.

In response to the government's announcement, former defence secretary Ben Wallace posted on X that without the HM Treasury changing their "value for money" rules then today's announcement looks set to flounder.