1 The Ministry of Defence (the Department) is responsible for some of the most technically complex, risky and costly procurement programmes in government. It has the largest number of programmes in the Government Major Projects Portfolio, with a total budgeted whole-life cost of £162.6 billion in 2019-20. In that year, it paid some 44% of its £26.6 billion procurement expenditure to 10 major providers, nine of which are involved directly in the supply of military equipment.1 Due to the Department's complex requirements for its major equipment programmes, it relies on a limited specialist supplier base to meet its needs. Equipment programmes place high demands on the technical skills of both departmental and supplier staff. They also require a high level of expertise in commercial negotiation, and programme and contract management.
2 Responsibility for managing and delivering defence programmes and contracts is shared between the Commands (Army, Navy, Air and Strategic Command), the Department's Head Office, and its delivery agents - these include Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and Defence Digital. Teams within the Commands are accountable for delivery of the programmes. Scrutiny teams in the Commands and the Department's Head Office provide assurance on programme teams' business cases, such as the commercial and financial cases. The delivery agents (most often DE&S) lead on commercial negotiations and day-to-day relationships with suppliers and are accountable for delivery of equipment to the programme.
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1 Airbus Group SE; Babcock International Group PLC; BAE Systems PLC; General Dynamics Corporation; Leonardo SpA; Lockheed Martin Corporation; QinetiQ Group PLC; Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC; The Boeing Company.