Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 96
96
Accepted
UK Armed Forces maintain high readiness despite significant fleet capability limitations
Conclusion
General Lord Houghton told us that the UK Armed Forces have maintained high levels of readiness for standing commitments (to domestic security and overseas non- discretionary tasks) and contingent commitments (commitments to allies and alliances such as the commitment to deploy forces to NATO at varying levels of readiness). Therefore readiness for these tasks (as opposed to warfighting readiness) was unlikely to be an issue because the Armed Forces had long been subject to demands to engage in significant 200 Oral evidence taken on 4 July 2023, HC (2022–23) 1689, Q44; Oral evidence taken on 12 December 2023, HC (2023–24) 54, Q95 201 Oral evidence taken on 4 July 2023, HC (2022–23) 1689, Q43 202 HC Deb, 26 October 2023, HCWS1097 [Commons Written Ministerial Statement] Ready for War? 39 operational activity, geographically widely dispersed and across a range of tasks.203 The First Sea Lord also acknowledged this, and when questioned about the range of tasks carried out by the Royal Navy noted that: You will always have more tasks for a Navy than there are ships, by dint of the fact that we are a maritime nation. … I don’t own the task allocation; I am merely forced to generate forces against that. The range of tasks would be a question for Ministers. As for whether I have sufficient forces to meet the full range of tasks all the time in the way they would wish, as I said at the beginning, there is always a desire to do more than the fleet is actually capable of doing. What we pride ourselves on is the degree of agility that will allow us to rebalance against what the ministerial priorities are at the time.204
Government Response Summary
The government refers to Defence Command Paper 2023, which outlines a clear purpose for Defence and a program of modernisation and mobilisation to address capability shortfalls, enhance lethality across the Royal Navy, Army, and RAF, and increase operational productivity.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
On 18th July the Government published the Defence Command Paper 2023 (DCP23). The Defence Command Paper (DCP) built upon the DCP of March 2021. This mid-cycle refresh was needed given three changes in circumstance: i) the evolving threat picture–not least Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s growing assertiveness–and the technological advances since 2021; ii) the increase in the MOD’s budget, now over £50 billion a year for the first time and next year we expect it to rise to around £55.6bn; iii) the publication in March 2023 of a refreshed Integrated Review that set out the Government’s new grand strategic aims and approach. DCP23 articulates a new, clear purpose for Defence: to protect the nation, and to help it prosper. It sets out how we will double-down in certain areas, such as the centrality of NATO, the importance of nuclear and the strength of our alliances and partnerships. As a leading member of NATO–the most successful military alliance in history–the UK and our Allies have a competitive advantage over our adversaries through the solidarity of 32 nations and the multiplying effect of interoperable forces. In NATO, Allies do not fight alone. It is through NATO and the UK’s wider Alliances and partnerships that the UK provides a credible defence from and deterrence to the threats the country faces. The UK can draw on the capabilities of the 32 NATO Allies and not only from our own armed forces. Re-investment in our warfighting force through the lens of its contribution principally to NATO, that force still underpins our hard-power projection in the world beyond as well. The UK already has a significant recapitalisation programme underway across all domains. Defence has new platforms that are in service, or are coming into service, which will completely transform the Armed Forces’ capability. Through commitments made in DCP23, Defence is prioritising the things that will make those capabilities more lethal and ready, such as stockpiles, munitions, and enablers including storage facilities and our transformed partnership with industry... Our programme of modernisation and mobilisation of conventional forces is addressing shortfalls in capabilities where we cannot continue to maintain risk... The lethality of our Forces will be enhanced; The Royal Navy continues to develop lethality to complement its carrier and amphibious strike capabilities. It has bought the Naval Strike Missile capability at pace allowing precision strike on land and at sea. The Army is enhancing its deep fire capabilities, to counter and hit precise deeper targets. The RAF is continuing to evolve and innovate, including counter-UAS technology and initial Swarming Drones capabilities. And MOD is doing more to increase operational productivity by rebalancing investment in capabilities’ availability and sustainment. But Defence must continue to do more.