4 We undertook interviews with senior staff in many parts of the Ministry of Defence (the Department). These included: Air Command, Army Command, Commercial Function, Defence Digital, Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), Defence Portfolio and Approvals Secretariat, Defence Safety Authority, Finance Function, Navy Command, Submarine Delivery Agency and the Department's Cost Analysis and Assurance Service.
5 These interviews provided a comprehensive overview of the challenges to effective contracting in defence, including commercial capability, management information and safety accreditation. They also provided us with an understanding of recent developments in the Department such as the Strategic Partnering Programme and Approvals and Acquisition Transformation Programme. In addition, we met with the chair and non-executive members of DE&S to gain their perspective on contract performance.
6 We met with senior staff with the following defence contractors: Airbus Defence and Space, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin UK, MBDA UK, MSI Defence Systems and Thales UK. These interviews were designed to give us an understanding of the challenges from a supplier's point of view of contracting with the Department. They informed the development of our questions for the Department. We provided suppliers mentioned in this report with the opportunity to comment on factual accuracy.
7 We also spoke to a number of other organisations to gain their perspectives on defence contracting. These were: Association of Defence Suppliers; the Infrastructure and Projects Authority; HM Treasury; and the Single Source Regulations Office.