“The Ministry of Defence must become more comfortable with greater flexibility and risk in its procurement of new capabilities, accepting that the finished product might not be as initially envisaged, that failure can be instructive, and that speed can be more important than cost management.”
The committee, chaired by Baroness Hayter, also called for the Government to provide further support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), stressing that the firms provide “much innovation and experimentation, and who support larger, prime contractors in delivering broader capabilities”.
It also welcomed the Strategic Defence Review’s calls for a new, collaborative partnership between the Government and industry, adding that its recommendations focus on “where the Government must go further and faster”.
“If the Government continues its arms-length, buyer-seller relationship with industry delivering against detailed and prescriptive technical specifications, industry will not be able to move quickly enough to exploit fast-developing technology or to protect the UK in the event of war,” the committee warned.