Maximising Defence Capability Through R&D: A Review of Defence Research and Development

摘要

The Defence Industrial Strategy identified the changes required across the entire Defence acquisition community, including industry, to ensure our Armed Forces continue to receive the equipment they need to respond to the challenges of the 21st Century. The ensuing Defence Acquisition Change Programme has focused on the structure, organisation and process changes required within the Ministry of Defence to deliver better Through Life Capability Management. The formation in April 2007 of the Defence Equipment and Support organisation to replace the Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics Organisation is the clearest manifestation of the changes we are making. This work has necessarily been process-led. Of equal importance is the need to assess the quality and effectiveness of the outcomes of MOD's processes. The Ministry of Defence spends some 2.6BN annually on research and development (R&D) activities. In April 2006 the Department published the internal report of a pioneering review of the alignment, quality and exploitation of the 500M Defence research programme which forms part of that total. The Defence Management Board decided to extend this successful review (known as the Capability and Alignment Study ), to cover MOD's entire R&D investment. Our aim was to identify where and how efficiently resources are being utilised, and to what effect. Like the Capability and Alignment Study, this comprehensive evaluation of our R&D performance included the use of external assessors to ensure it was objective and robust. We also established a Managerial Board to direct and oversee the Review Team s work. The Board included several senior industrialists and academics whose collective experience and expertise made an invaluable contribution to the review, for which we are particularly grateful.