Military kit unfit for war in Ukraine should be deemed unfit for UK use, minister says

Military kit and equipment that is deemed unfit for war in Ukraine should also be considered unfit for use by Britain's Armed Forces, a defence minister has said.

Defence Industry and Readiness Minister Luke Pollard said that while the UK needed to rearm and replace its old military hardware, he was working under the assumption that if equipment didn't work in Ukraine, "I don't want it in our Armed Forces either".

Mr Pollard made the comments while visiting one of five newly announced defence technical excellence colleges in front of apprenticeship students and industry leaders.

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Defence tech-themed courses 

Under the announcement, five further education institutions will receive approximately £10m each and can begin delivering defence tech-themed courses later this month.

"It's not only about advanced manufacturing roles that might support the work of BAE Systems in building Typhoons or submarines," Mr Pollard said.

"It's also submarine design, submarine engineering, it is the work in terms of aviation, and so we've got a huge opportunity here to invest in the welders and the people that will be designing, delivering and making the technologies of the future."

The locations chosen to deliver the training are colleges in Plymouth, Lincoln, Yeovil, South Yorkshire and Blackpool, where the minister met some of the first students to benefit from the funding.

World is a more dangerous place, minister warns

In a speech outlining how the programme would help youngsters secure careers in the defence industry, Mr Pollard warned that the world was a more dangerous place, outlining examples of conflicts in places like Ukraine and Iran.

The Plymouth Sutton and Devonport MP added: "There's a truth here that a military is only as strong as the industry that sits behind it.

"And that is something that the UK has not always realised as we've had feast and famine in terms of ordering.

"We just need to look at our colleagues up in Barrow to see what happens when you order submarines and then don't order some submarines – and how much effort needs to come back into place to build an 'always on production'."

Mr Pollard went on to say that Britain needed to rearm and replace some of its ageing military equipment, adding that as the minister responsible for defence readiness, he operated under an assumption that if kit had been proven not to be fit for use in the ongoing war in Ukraine, he didn't want to see it used in "our Armed Forces either". 

Businesses wait for the DIP 

The announcement comes as the wider UK defence industry continues to await the publication of the Government's Defence Investment Plan (DIP). Asked about when businesses can expect to finally see the DIP, the minister told BFBS Forces News that the Government was working "flat out" to deliver it.

"But as well as delivering that work, we are continuing to sign contracts," Mr Pollard said.

"Not a week goes by without me signing off more defence contracts. And as we have an increasing defence budget, I want more of that budget being spent with British companies, creating the new technologies that our forces need."

The five institutions chosen to become defence technical excellence colleges sit within a wider government announcement unveiling similar learning locations across other key industries, including clean energy and digital and technology.