News story

DE&S launches new Strategy

The new strategy sets out our ambitions for 2025 and is our response to the Government’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy.

We have launched our new strategy outlining our ambitions for 2025 with a focus on delivering through people, technology and innovation.

DE&S 2025 is our response to the Government’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. It sets the course for a significant evolution in how we procure and support military equipment solutions for this Information Age.

Our strategy builds on our strong track record of delivering complex acquisition programmes for the UK’s Armed Forces. Since 2014 we have delivered over 4,500 contract awards, worth more than £47 billion and managed 80 per cent of the UK’s biggest and most complicated defence programmes. We continue to play a major role in the prosperity of the UK by spending £8 billion every year on UK contracts and through this, support more than 88,000 jobs.

Our new strategy will ensure we are best placed to help Defence deliver its future integrated force, and support wider Government priorities, from creating jobs and levelling up prosperity, to driving environmental change.

Chief Executive, Sir Simon Bollom said:

There is a demand from our military clients for greater pace and agility and our role is to meet their needs – now and into the future.

The publication of the Integrated Review and the new investment that this brings provides an opportunity for us to seize the moment and deliver a further step-change in our performance in line with the new Defence Command Paper and priorities. This strategy provides us with the focus to raise our ambitions and deliver for our Armed Forces and wider society

Delivering the strategy

We will deliver the strategy by focusing on five priority areas. Through these, we will ensure we can provide the Armed Forces with some of the most advanced technology equipment needed to maintain their operational advantage.

  1. Pace and agility for our clients – We will improve our ability to deliver performance and solutions at pace with increased availability, fast response to our clients’ priorities, and a focus on safety, security and better integration of systems.

  2. Value to the taxpayer and society – We will make our investments go further to support defence and national priorities. We will deliver value for the Armed Forces and support government net zero and social value targets.

  3. Delivery through people – We will support a diverse and professional workforce that is empowered and equipped to deliver excellence. We will provide access to the right learning and development, invest in our leadership and embed our new set of values.

  4. Accelerated digital solutions – We will drive digital solutions for business and battlespace advantage. We will apply delivery enhancing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science, open capability centres of expertise and launch innovative communities of interest.

  5. Delivery through partners – We will attract and work at pace with diverse, resilient and innovative suppliers and partners. We will implement the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy, secure our supply chains, support international partnerships and exports and protect our capabilities.

Krishna Dhanak, Director Strategy and Corporate Operations, added:

The Integrated Review calls for our acquisition and procurement to be more agile and responsive to the changing nature of operations and industry, and for our capabilities to be more persistently engaged – on task, on time, and deployed for longer.

Our strategy ensures we rise to this challenge by focusing on embracing innovative and emerging technology to deliver safe and secure integrated capabilities, and even greater value for our clients. It also recognises that our people and our partners are instrumental to success. We will work in collaboration and at increasing pace to help deliver one of the most integrated, digital and agile Armed Forces in the world.

Find out more about the DE&S 2025 Strategy and Key Performance Indicators.

Published 13 May 2021