Minister calls for powerful vehicles like Boxer to be mixed in with smaller programmes

The Defence Procurement Minister has stressed the need for agility in defence, with large programmes like Challenger 3 and Boxer being bolstered by other projects that are quicker and cheaper to deliver.

Maria Eagle was speaking during a visit to the Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) facility in Telford, which produces some of the heaviest armoured vehicles in the British Army.

The Ministry of Defence also supports Ms Eagle's view, having stated that the advantage on the future battlefield may lie with the force that can innovate more quickly.

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Ms Eagle, who was standing in front of the first Boxer armoured vehicle to have been made entirely in Britain, reinforced the importance to the UK of getting to grips with smaller, cheaper programmes.

"We need to engage SMEs [small to medium-sized enterprises] more and better," she said.

"What I'm hearing from them is they find it very difficult to get involved with MOD and to get proper chances to contract with MOD."

She added: "Not everything is a massive platform that takes years to build.

"There are other things, and the war in Ukraine is teaching us some of these lessons.

"And so we need to make sure that we're able to produce for the warfighting that will be done in future – if it has to be done."

Some projects take more time to get right. The RBSL factory in Telford is building the upcoming Challenger 3 main battle tanks.

The minister's visit was a chance to iron out what firms like RBSL want to see in the Government's Defence Industrial Strategy, which is expected to arrive in late spring.