Sustaining Design and Production Resources. Volume 1

摘要

Since the end of the Cold War, the United Kingdom's defence budgets and military force structures have gotten much smaller. As a result, the defence industrial base has contracted as well. This industrial base must now be carefully managed to ensure that the capabilities required to support the nation's forces do not deteriorate to the point at which they cannot support defence requirements. An important factor in ensuring the sustainability of the industrial base is the scheduling of major weapon system acquisition programmes. Gaps in design and production can lead to the departure of experienced personnel to other industries and to the erosion of defence system production skills. This is particularly true of the nuclear submarine production base, for which special skills are required.