Defence in a competitive age - Defence Command Paper

The Defence Command Paper (DCP) was released on Monday afternoon and provided a deeper dive into the Defence ramifications of last week’s Integrated Review, which included plans to spend £188bn on Defence over the coming four years. The DCP focused efforts on understanding future threats and investing in new capabilities and highlighted a more integrated approach across the five operation domains, shifting to information age speed and readiness.

This follows from prior documents, such as last years Integrated Operating Concept which highlighted the needed for persistent global engagement and the need to move seamlessly from operating to warfighting. However, the DCP is clear that Britain cannot do this alone, and as the second biggest spender in NATO, the United Kingdom has a responsibility to support the Alliance’s own transformation to this new competitive age.

The document is split into 9 thematic chapters, and below the techUK Defence team has provided a summary of the relevant points that may be of particular interest to techUK members.

1. Changing Strategic Concept

The Integrated Review has been written with the following overarching trends in mind:

1. Geo-political and geo-economic shifts
2. Systematic competition
3. Rapid technological change
4. Transnational challenges

These trends will overlap and interact, and the long-term effects of COVID-19 will influence their trajectory in ways that are currently difficult to predict. However, they are also compounded by challenges in the newer domains of cyber and space, where advanced technologies are being developed but there is limited international agreement on the norms and conventions to encourage their ethical use.

These domains will increasingly be integrated with traditional domains of air, maritime and land, and multi-domain integration will become the norm.  

2. The future battlefield

The DCP makes clear that the UK’s technological advantage has diminished over the last couple of decades and consequently we will likely be confronted by state and non-state actors who will engage in malign activity to undermine the UK’s economic and security interests.

These threats span the five domains and will continue to develop over the next few years.

3. Strategic Approach

Defence has a pivotal role to play in ensuring the UK’s sovereignty, security and prosperity – the three national interests identified by the Integrated Review. Consequently, they have begun a strategic shift in approach which began with the Integrated Operating Concept of 2020. The core elements of this approach can be summarized as follows:

1. Advantage through allies and partners – both in NATO and in the Indo-Pacific region
2. People – working to attract a more diverse workforce with the skills and experience needed to operate in the information age and exploit the rapid development of technology
3. Innovation & experimentation – MOD will develop new ways of partnering with industry to ensure pull through of R&D to capability delivery
4. Understanding & assessment – increasingly important to decision making and Defence will need to integrate physically, virtually, and cognitively
5. Moving to permanent and persistent global engagement - more focus on force posture rather than force structure

To deliver the new approach to operating, Defence will need to embrace MDI across the 5 domains, enhance integration across government, engage internationally, be willing to confront emerging threats early and invest in the capabilities that enable Defence to obtain and exploit information at speed.

Investment will be focused on the agile, interconnected, and data-driven capabilities of the future, targeting generational leaps in capability development.

4. Evolving for the future

Over the next few years, UK Defence will develop new doctrine, new operating methods, new capabilities and new partners based on a model of Persistent Engagement. This model will span the UK’s approach to overseas engagement, crisis response, warfighting, defending the UK and our territory and our nuclear deterrent.

Of particular interest to techUK members will be the focus on deep interoperability with NATO allies, an increased  role in protecting CNI through cyber and intelligence networks

5. Defence’s contribution to Global Britain

The DCP sees integration with allies as one of the crucial pillars to retain a global strategic advantage.

The DCP argues that NATO’s enduring strength remains its ability to adapt, and highlights that the UK can help the NATO effort by bringing to bear nuclear, offensive cyber, precision strike weapons and strike aircraft across the NATO region. However, the DCP also highlights that NATO must respond to trends such as:

• The importance of space and cyberspace as operational and warfighting domains
• The systemic challenge of China
• The weakening of arms control architecture
• Global health crises
• The speed and scale of technological development
• The need to deter and constrain hybrid attacks on the alliance

However, the DCP also notes that the UK needs to develop relationships in the Indo-Pacific region, especially given the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific for the UK’s security and prosperity as highlighted in the Integrated Review. To achieve this, the UK will:

• Increase capacity building and training across the Indo-Pacific
• Increase maritime presence and regional engagement through the Carrier Strike Group deployment in 2021
• Deepen and expand Defence industrial relationships with Australia, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan and India

6. Our Workforce: Our finest asset

While the Integrated Review focused on the successful exploitation of technology, the DCP makes clear that this increased technological focus will be in vain if Defence does not invest in talented individuals with the specialist skills required to win in the era of systematic competition. Particularly, the National Cyber Force and Space Command will be pathfinders and Defence scientists will lead innovation and experimentation. Additionally, they will create a Digital People Strategy which will focus on putting career management in the hands of Defence Staff through digital applications.

7. Modernised forces for a competitive age

To compete in the modern age, Defence will invest in digital capabilities that enable multi-domain integration and ensure the UK can compete more effectively in space and cyberspace. Capability will be less defined by numbers of people and platforms than by information-centric technologies, automation, and a culture of innovation.

Moreover, the government has committed to spend at least £6.6bn on R&D over the next four years and this investment will support next generation capabilities, the newer domains of space and cyberspace and the modern platforms and weapons systems that will extend the technical advantage over UK strategic competitors. This R&D investment will be optimized through a network of Defence Innovation hubs working alongside the Defence and Security Accelerator which will aim to build cutting-edge equipment.

Additionally, a Digital Backbone will underpin the modernization of the armed forces and will drive significant savings by replacing ageing and unreliable digital infrastructure. It will ensure data is exploited through the cloud and across secure networks to enable faster, better decisions.

The nascent National Cyber Force will play a key role in modernizing the UK armed forces and this new force, funded by MOD, GCHQ and SIS will work in close partnership with law enforcement and international partners to deceive, degrade, deny, disrupt or destroy targets. This will be supplemented by a new dedicated career pathway for Defence cyberspace specialists and there will be £500m invested in capabilities across the electromagnetic environment, of which cyber is a part.

By 2030 the Government’s ambition is for the UK to have the ability to monitor, protect and defend interests in and through space, using a mixture of national capabilities and burden-sharing partnerships with allies. In support of this, the MOD will deliver the Skynet 6 programme, investing around £5bn over the next 10 years to enhance satellite communication capabilities and spend an additional £1.4bn on space to achieve the following objectives:

• Establish a new Space Command
• Enhance the UK’s space domain awareness
• Develop a UK-built Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance satellite
• Create a Space Academy

New investments and adjustments across the operating domains are as follows:

The Royal Navy

• £40m more over next 4 years to develop Future Commando Force;
• £50m in converting a Bay class support ship to deliver a more agile and lethal littoral strike capability;
• A new Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance capability to safeguard underseas CNI;
• Developing and deploying new autonomous mine hunting capabilities;
• Continuing funding for Astute class submarines and for the next generation of nuclear submarines (SSNs);
• Upgrading Type-45 air defence capabilities;
• Launching the UK-designed Type 26 Anti-Submarine Warfare;
• Retiring legacy capabilities including two Type 23 frigates, and bringing Type 31 and Type 32 frigates into service;
• Further investment of over £1.7bn a year in shipbuilding, including a fleet of 3 Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships;
• Developing new Multi-Role Support Ships (MRSS) to provide the platforms to deliver Littoral Strike, including Maritime Special Operations, in the early 2030s;
• The concept and assessment phase for the new Type 83 destroyer will begin to replace Type 45 destroyers in the late 2030s;

The British Army

• Will re-organise into 7 brigade combat teams: 2 heavy, 1 deep strike, 1 air manoeuvre,
• 2 light, and a combat aviation brigade;
• An additional £3bn in new Army equipment on top of more than £20bn planned;
• £120m to establish a new Ranger Regiment as part of an Army Special Operations Brigade;
• Investment in long range artillery, including £250m over 10 years in the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System and £800m over next 10 years on a new automated Mobile Fires Platform;
• £200m over 10 years for enhanced electronic warfare and signal intelligence capability;
• Delivery of cyber, electronic warfare, and information operations for operations through 6^th (UK) Division;
• Full time trained strength will be reduced from 76,000 to 72,500 by 2025;
• Investment in ground-based air defence based on short range digitally connected platforms including small drones;
• £200m over 10 years to deliver an enhanced electronic warfare and signal intelligence capability;
• Accelerating the in-service date of the Boxer APC;
• £1.3bn investment in armoured capability, including upgrading 148 main battle tanks, with the remainder of the fleet being retired;
• Cancellation of Warrior upgrade programme, with the platform remaining in service until Boxer is operational;
• The oldest CH-47 Chinook helicopters will be retired, and investment made in newer variants.
• New upgrades to AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopters by 2025;
• Investment in a new medium lift helicopter in the mid-2020s to consolidate the capability, including the replacement of Puma;
• Watchkeeper drones will be retained and upgraded;
• A new Land Industrial Strategy within the Defence & Security Industrial Strategy (DSIS);

The Royal Air Force

• £2bn investment over next 4 years on the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme, to deliver a mix of manned, unmanned, and autonomous platforms;
• F-35 fleet to be increased beyond the 48 aircraft ordered so far;
• Upgrades to Typhoon’s precision weapons and radar capabilities;
• Typhoon and Hawk Tranche 1 will be retired by 2025;
• Further investment in synthetic training;
• The BAe146 and C130 Hercules will be retired by 2022 and 2023 respectively;
• Investment in capacity and new capability for the A400M Atlas fleet;
• Retiring the E-3D Sentry in 2021, to be replaces by a fleet of 3 E-7A Wedgetail aircraft in 2023;
• 9 new P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and 16 long-range Protector systems;

Space Investment

• Delivering the Skynet 6 military satellite network, investing around £5bn over next 10 years;
• Additional £1.4bn investment to establish the new Space Command and National Space Operations Centre;
• Developing a UK built Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Satellite constellation to support digital backbone in space;
•  Establishing a Space academy to train specialists in the domain;
• Prioritise Defence R&D investment to develop Space based capabilities;
• Developing a UK satellite launch capability by 2022;

Cyber Investment

• Integration of capabilities across the spectrum, including investment in defensive cyber capabilities and build on offensive cyber capabilities through the new National Cyber Force;
• Ensuring the UK has the requisite skills and experience needed in the cyber domain by investing in cyber-specific skills initiatives;
• Working with the international community to promote norms and agreements within the cyber sector;
• Strengthening resilience against future potential cyber-attacks through infrastructure investment;
• Investment in CEMA technologies to enhance the UK’s overall cyber capability;
• Developing enhanced test and evaluate capability for Novel Weapons, Artificial
• Intelligence, Digital and Space technologies through the T&E futures programme;
• Creation of a new Defence Centre for Artificial Intelligence and an AI Strategy;

8. A stronger relationship with industry

The DCP sets out a more strategic relationship with industry with a more sustainable industrial base, with further detail to follow in the Defence & Security Industrial Strategy, which will set out plans for a more strategic partnership. While competition will remain an important tool to drive value for money, DSIS will provide greater flexibility in designing capability and acquisition strategies to deliver and grow the onshore skills, technologies and capabilities needed to counter the threats and exploit opportunities.

The DCP also recognises that to stay ahead of adversaries the UK needs to make its acquisition and procurement policies and processes more flexible and agile.

techUK will be providing more insight on the DSIS in the coming days.

9. Transforming our ways of working

Finally, there will be a new Secretary of State Office for Net Assessment and Challenge (SONAC) which will ensure that everything UK Defence does is informed by the evolving threat picture. Strategic decision making in the MOD must be guided by clear objectives and consequently the SONAC aims to bring together the best of the civil service, armed forces, academia and business to challenge the accepted wisdom and ways of doing things.

The unit will provide a central hub for strategic analysis at MOD Head Office and will ensure that UK Defence learns the strategic lessons from the MOD’s own activity but also from other international actors. This will include wargaming and read teaming work, informed by Defence Intelligence to ensure strategies are tested by independent and diverse voices before they are implemented.

Defence’s intelligence enterprise also needs to adapt to the new threat as open-source intelligence, automation and AI provide potentially game-changing ways to understand and counter these new challenges.