Spending on equipment and support accounts for roughly 40% of the Ministry of Defence budget.
The MOD delegates the bulk of its equipment and support budget to the military commands. Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) does not hold the budget for the equipment procurement and equipment support plans – its responsibility is to deliver against these.
The latest Annual Report and Accounts for DE&S for 2018/19 was released in January 2020; we review the highlights from this report below.
Latest figures from DE&S
DE&S equips and supports the UK’s Armed Forces.
David Johnson, Director General Resources, gave details of the most recent spend figures from the department within the DE&S Annual Report and Accounts 2018/19. He stated:
“This year we spent £9,766 million on acquiring and supporting equipment for the Armed Forces, as well as a further £770 million on inventory items to support that equipment.”
One of the main takeaways from the report is that the organisation is hitting its numbers. Simon Bollom, CEO and Accounting Officer, notes that the organisation’s “notable achievements are wide-ranging in scale, scope and innovation across equipment procurement and through-life support.”
Spend highlights (2018/19) from the report include:
- The delivery of the first of a fleet of 25 Commando Merlins, a new helicopter which was designed for Royal Marines aircraft carrier operations.
- The £850 million Sea Ceptor missile system entered service with the Royal Navy, a weapon system designed to provide UK personnel with a shield against airborne targets, including hostile combat jets, helicopters and missiles.
- A £53 million Chinook Mk6 synthetic training facility opened at RAF Odiham to replicate real-life operations, training helicopter crews on how to work together in specific flying, emergency and mission capabilities.
- Contracts worth up to £5 million each were awarded to three shipbuilding teams to further the plans to build five new Type 31 warships in the UK for the Royal Navy.
- A five-year £293 million contract was placed for the support of the existing fleet of 50 Apache attack helicopters used by the British Army.
- A new £44 million test facility was unveiled at RAF Cranwell, revolutionising High-G training and used by fast jet pilots in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force to replicate flight in aircraft.
- A multimillion-pound upgrade to the British Army’s standard combat rifle to ensure troops are equipped with the best possible battle-winning kit.
The Defence Equipment Plan
The Defence Equipment Plan sets out the defence equipment budget and forecast expenditure and gives a good indication to suppliers where MOD tenders may arise (this does not include £9.6 billion of forecast equipment and support project costs).
Spending on equipment and associated support in the ten years from 2017 is projected to be £179.7 billion, including a £6 billion contingency; £84.7 billion will be spent on the procurement of new equipment.
You can download the Ministry of Defence: Equipment Plan 2017 to 2027 report here.
Find MOD tenders
With the MOD spending over £20 billion a year on its procurement requirements and the UK meeting its NATO pledge to spend 2% of national income on defence, the marketplace has never been more promising for domestic and international suppliers.
The MOD works with suppliers from all backgrounds as it continues to develop its commercial expertise.
If you are already working with the defence sector and want to expand the opportunities available to your business, learn how early engagement can support your search during a free live demo with a member of our defence procurement team.
