Recommendation 2

Lessons learned from supporting Ukraine have made the Department examine its own decision-making and procurement processes, finding some of them in need of improvement. The Department has learned several lessons from its support for Ukraine. These include: the need for a mixture of high-end capabilities, such as Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles, and affordable high-mass equipment, such as drones; the importance of augmenting crewed capabilities, such as helicopters, with uncrewed autonomous collaborative platforms; the advantages of having fewer systems for easier logistics management; and having the industrial ability and capacity to sustain equipment if supply chains are disrupted. The Department has responded to these lessons by splitting its procurement of military equipment into three segments: big strategic programmes to provide long-term platforms, such as submarines, ships and aeroplanes; 4 programmes for developing capabilities used on the platforms; and the rapid development and deployment of inexpensive, innovative capabilities. The Department also recognises it must reassess what financial and operational risk it is willing to tolerate, because a higher risk appetite allows it to deliver equipment quicker. In addition, the Department has learned that the pace of innovation means equipment can become outdated quickly, so it must adapt to ending programmes sooner and disposing of equipment which no longer meets requirements. recommendation The Department should update the Committee by the end of June 2026 on what further improvements to how it operates it has identified from its support for Ukraine, and how it will implement them.