Sitrep: Procurement needs a shake-up to get kit to the frontline sooner rather than later
The Ministry of Defence is shaking up the way it buys military kit, but the culture at the government department needs to change if this new strategy is to work, according to James Cartlidge.
The Minister for Defence Procurement was speaking on the latest episode of the Sitrep podcast - which analyses the top defence stories of the week and is available wherever you get your podcasts.
He said without a culture change within the MOD, procurement would not get any better.
"The biggest challenge is cultural change," he said. "I can announce all the strategies I want… but it'll only really work if the culture of defence changes too.
"I think some of that you're starting to see, because there's no choice.
"We have to change procurement because of the military threat we face.
"And because our potential adversaries are themselves going into technology so aggressively, ramping up their industrial production, we've got to match them."
Mr Cartlidge outlined five key changes to the UK's defence procurement system, including being more joined up, introducing checks and balances - with MOD experts providing a second opinion on what should be purchased - considering exportability and empowering industrial innovation.
But the minister said the fifth was perhaps the most important - spiral development.
"Anyone listening who's familiar with the history of procurement in the UK military, there is this idea that we've been too exquisite," he said.
"We have gone for platforms and capabilities where the requirements are so complex that they get delayed and bogged down, whereas spiral is the idea you go for. Rather than 100%, you have a 60 or 80%.
"Then, once it's in service as soon as possible, you then spirally develop it, particularly against the changing and evolving threat."
Mr Cartlidge said it was about instilling the sense of urgency present when a country is in wartime procurement to the position the UK finds itself now - which he said was "unfortunately, potentially closer to a wartime situation".
He said the UK had done "brilliantly procuring for Ukraine because there's been that sense of urgency, because it really is a live military theatre".
The minister said the spiral development of any potential MOD procurement projects was about cultural change.
"This is about the fact that if we want these changes to have an impact, culture in defence has to change," he said.
Instead of looking at the "exquisite item", the MOD should focus on getting the minimum deployable product into the frontline as soon as possible, he explained.
"Something that could be used, dare I say it, in war - you get it to that stage," he said.
He was asked whether that meant personnel would be issued kit that wasn't ready for the battlefield and would then have to wait for it to be updated.
Mr Cartlidge said this would be countered by changing the culture and "making people realise that technology is on our side".
"It's normal for software companies to upgrade their programs quickly," he said. "If we can get that culture into our DNA in defence, we will have better procurement.
"But more importantly, our Armed Forces will be more capable and more competitive.
"It may not be perfect, but you'll then spirally upgrading it because actually that's how technology works."
Mr Cartlidge also addressed the previous issues with procurement, including the Ajax programme - which suffered numerous delays and led to some of those who tested the armoured vehicle being medically discharged with tinnitus.
Mr Cartlidge said Ajax was "very capable" but admitted its manufacturing process had been "dogged by issues".
"It came to symbolise what was wrong with procurement," he said.
He explained how with the new procurement system, international demand would be considered and "British industry will be more vibrant".
"They won't be dependent just on UK sales and I think with something like Ajax, if you had that discipline, you'd be less likely to give it all these very complex UK requirements because you've got to sell it internationally as well," he said.
Ultimately, fixing procurement was about providing the men and women of the Armed Forces with the right kit to do their job.
Mr Cartlidge said there were many stories of personnel "in theatre with kit that let them down".
"That's the sort of thing that keeps me awake at night, but I have huge faith in British industry to deliver," he said.
He said he could see why some people might be cynical, but said what happened in Ukraine had not been made up.
"We really did get them the equipment they needed really urgently," he said.
"We were the country that cohered our international partners to ensure they're now getting significant equipment from Germany, from Denmark, the Czech Republic and everyone else.
"My message to [the UK Armed Forces] is we want to deliver the best."
"It's not straightforward. It's highly complex and there will still be, no matter what happens, those long programmes like nuclear submarines... which take a long time and are highly complex. "But we know that technological change is possible because it's happening in Ukraine in front of our eyes. We've actually empowered some of that.
"Let's learn those lessons so that we improve our own Armed Forces."
You can listen to Sitrep wherever you get your podcasts, including on the Forces News YouTube channel.
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