Latest news with #DefenceIndustrialStrategy
Globe and Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Shipbuilding, aerospace to be priorities in federal strategy to transform defence sector, Joly says
Federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says aerospace and shipbuilding are areas where Canada can excel as the government prepares its Defence Industrial Strategy, which aims to transform the country's status as a laggard to a leader in the sector. The strategy, which Ms. Joly said should be finalized in the coming months, will be key in shaping the future of Canada's defence industry, through items such as job creation in manufacturing, strengthened ties with Europe and a renewed relationship with the private sector. 'We're doing this because, fundamentally, we cannot take our peace for granted any more,' she said in an interview Tuesday with The Globe and Mail. Prime Minister Mark Carney has committed to boosting Canada's spending on defence to 2 per cent of its gross domestic product this fiscal year, and to 5 per cent by 2035. The latter NATO target will require Canada spend up to $150-billion annually, more than double its existing budget. How should Canada rearm itself? Fix aging bases, buy submarines, air-defence systems, experts say Through military investment, Ms. Joly said she'd like to see Canada's aerospace sector rebuilt into something that resembles former versions of itself – such as in the 1950s, when the country was known for its Avro Arrow program. She'd also like to see the country's shipyards become an export market for the rest of the world. With the Defence Industrial Strategy on the way, Ms. Joly said the government isn't waiting to take action. Last week, she sent a mandate letter to the Business Development Bank of Canada, a Crown corporation, asking it to work with government on the development of the country's defence sector and sovereign capabilities, such as dual-use technology and military weapons and equipment. More specifically, she asked the bank to support small to medium-sized enterprises that make up the sector's supply chains. In the letter, obtained by The Globe and Mail, Ms. Joly concludes with a request to the BDC to provide her with 'a proposal in alignment with industry best practices to ensure that commercially viable businesses operating in the full scope of defence and security industries can access the financial supports they need to start up, grow and prosper.' It's the first of several mandate letters Ms. Joly will give out to government bodies, such as Export Development Canada, the Canadian Space Agency and the National Research Council, asking them to actively support defence-related businesses and dual-use technologies. First, however, she said the military must be at the table with the private sector to rebuild a level of trust that has been slowly degraded after successive governments failed to adequately invest in defence. 'History has shown us that when you're able to have defence and the private sector really work together, you're able to spear up innovation, make sure that your country is peaceful and, ultimately, create jobs,' Ms. Joly said in the interview. After all, companies want contracts, not subsidies, she said. Supports being rolled out by the government for Canada's steel sector are also part of its push toward building sovereign defence capabilities. For example, Ms. Joly said the country's shipbuilding and aerospace industries should be buying domestic steel. And the fact that these industries have access to a Canadian supply chain for certain materials, such as critical minerals and metals, is a large part of the reason they're being identified as priorities in building strength at home. 'We cannot have a military that is dependent on a manufacturing sector that is either on the other side of the ocean or south of the border.' Opinion: Great defence spending plan, Carney. It'd be a shame if Ottawa bureaucracy got in the way This push to be more self-sustaining is already playing out in actions taken by companies such as Seaspan, which recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Ontario-based Algoma Steel Inc. ASTL-T and Stigterstaal Canada. The partnership was formed specifically to assess the feasibility of Algoma supplying steel to Seaspan to contribute to the future of Canada's shipbuilding sector. Strategic partnerships beyond our own borders will also be a key part of the Defence Industrial Strategy. While the U.S. continues to make decisions around tariffs and its economy that serve itself, Ms. Joly said Canada is working with other countries and NATO members to become more connected. 'The test of this is actually the Defence Industrial Strategy because we will need to be working more with Europe on this, and obviously NATO, while continuing to understand that a lot of our companies are American-owned,' she said, referring to the fact that roughly 40 per cent of the 600 companies that make up Canada's industrial base are subsidiaries of U.S.-headquartered firms. Canada is open to foreign direct investment, she said, but not at the sacrifice of its own sovereign capabilities: 'We won't be an economy of subsidiaries. We will own IP and we will be able to lead the world.' Defence is a priority for this Liberal government because the world is a more dangerous place, Ms. Joly said, and Canada needs a military it can rely upon to defend itself.
Spectator
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Starmer's directionless national security strategy fools no one
Sometimes it feels as if the government's approach to defence and security could be summed up by the venerable punchline of the Irish farmer, 'I wouldn't have started from here'. Despite having had more than four years as Leader of the Opposition to prepare, Sir Keir Starmer never quite seems able to seize the initiative as Prime Minister, often being left puce and blinking. Yesterday saw the publication of the UK's national security strategy (NSS) 2025, Security for the British people in a dangerous world. It had been announced in February and promised before this week's Nato summit (in fact, it was released on the summit's first day). The Prime Minister argued it would pull together a number of extant reviews: the Strategic Defence Review, the AUKUS review, the Defence Industrial Strategy, the China audit, the FCDO's three internal reviews and the strategy for countering state threats, among others. The danger is that if everything is 'national security', then nothing is It was obvious at the time that this sequencing was nonsensical. The UK's first national security strategy, Security in an interdependent world, was a product of Gordon Brown's government, issued in 2008, and it was genuinely innovative. It was meant to conceptualise 'national security' in a new and broad way, taking in not just traditional elements like military operations, diplomacy, intelligence and counter-terrorism, but 'threats to individual citizens and to our way of life, as well as to the integrity and interests of the state'. Brown billed it as 'a single, overarching strategy bringing together the objectives and plans of all departments, agencies and forces involved in protecting our national security' From it flowed a number of discrete tasks and policies. The approach was not complicated: determine the big picture, then decide how to support it in practical terms. Starmer's national security strategy has done almost the opposite (though that ascribes to it too much coherence). We have seen the Strategic Defence Review setting out the future shape and tasks of the armed forces, three internal FCDO reviews have reported to the Foreign Secretary (but not released) and as much of the China audit as we will see is in the National Security Strategy. Meanwhile the Defence Industrial Strategy is a work in progress, and the AUKUS review risks being made irrelevant by the Trump administration's own re-examination. So it is neither top-down, nor bottom-up, but rather lacking any direction at all. I wouldn't have started from here. One important element of the NSS is an announcement on expenditure. The Nato summit is expected to agree a spending target of 5 per cent of GDP, made up of 3.5 per cent on core defence capabilities and 1.5 per cent on 'resilience and security'. The NSS contains an 'historic commitment to spend 5 per cent of GDP on national security', which is encouraging, but the detail is teeming with devils. First, the date by which the UK is expected to meet this level of spending is 2035. That is at least two general elections away; Vladimir Putin will turn 83 and Donald Trump will be 89, if either is spared. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines will be coming out of service. It is a long time away, and it remains a target without any practical steps to reach it. The NSS also widens the scope of 'national security' further than ever before. Including energy policy may seem defensible, but attaching the label to 'green growth', 'inequality' or 'stripping out red tape' starts to stretch credibility. The interdepartmental nature of the 'national security' umbrella is vital – but the danger is that if everything is 'national security', then nothing is. This matters because if the government simply moves spending from one column on its mother of all spreadsheets to another, it does not acquire a new capability. Equally, there is no deterrent effect on Russia or China, or 'Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm' – as Elizabeth I once so neatly put it. If the Prime Minister designates Border Security Command as a 'national security' asset, that is £150 million he had already earmarked, not new investment. The 2008 national security strategy was a serious and systematic attempt, supervised and delivered by Robert Hannigan and Patrick Turner, to design an overarching framework for the defence of the UK and its interests, then develop policies to support that framework. Its 2025 successor does not –by its nature and timing cannot – achieve that same goal. The national security strategy is not all bad; it comes in large part from the pen of the formidable Professor John Bew, who spent five years in Downing Street as foreign policy adviser to four successive prime ministers. But he has been asked to change the tyres on a moving car, creating a strategy around half a dozen other reviews in various stages of progress. There must be very serious concerns now that it is little more than a centripetal instrument for pulling in enough government expenditure nominally to meet our Nato obligations. Our allies are unlikely to be fooled, and our enemies will certainly not be.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The UK defense industry's biggest problem isn't just cash — it's also companies like Amazon
Like much of the world, the UK is ramping up its defense spending. But defense companies are now competing with an expanding talent-hungry tech sector for scarce skills. "We need a sea of talent," a defense sector insider told BI. "At the moment, it's a puddle." When Calvin Bailey — a member of the UK parliament — was a squadron commander in the country's Royal Air Force, he saw a shift in how his engineering-heavy workforce changed careers. In the early 2010s, people would leave the service "like for like," he told Business Insider — meaning they were leaving the military for complementary roles in the defense and aerospace industry. However, by around 2017, he said, a new sprawl of high-tech companies and major infrastructure projects created a demand for skills that the military had nurtured, such as robotics, advanced engineering, and logistics. Bailey wrote in a recent piece for War on the Rocks that he watched as the military "hemorrhaged" certified aircraft engineers. "I found myself competing with unlikely adversaries: Amazon logistics hubs," he wrote. As the UK attempts to redress the effects of decades of reduced military spending, it's not just a steep price tag that has experts worried. It's a shrunken — and highly competitive — skills pipeline. Bailey still doesn't think the UK is spending enough, he told BI. But even if the country throws money at it, "you haven't got the skills base with which to go and do the work that's required." Paul Oxley, a spokesperson for UK defense trade association ADS Group, told BI that demand for skilled workers now presents the defense industry's "largest barrier for growth." This covers everything from traditional skills like welding and high-end engineering, to growing fields like cybersecurity, digital, and AI capabilities. Oxley said that surveys of ADS members have seen the issue of talent leapfrog energy prices to become the top worry for many companies. These concerns come amid an increased commitment by the UK to defense spending — to 2.5% of GDP — that has defense-related industries looking out for new orders. Big projects are already in the works. Dreadnought-class submarines, the Tempest fighter jet, and Type 26 and 31 frigates are due to come into service in the next decade or so. Yet in March, Kevin Craven, the head of ADS Group, warned lawmakers that skills shortages are "combining to a point where both the defence and aerospace industry cannot fulfil the demand that they have." These warnings also come as the government prepares to publish its latest Defence Industrial Strategy, which a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said will help the UK have the "capability, skills and industrial resilience" for warfighting. Multiple skills initiatives are already underway, they added. The UK's defense sector pays an average of £39,900, Oxley said, which is about $53,000 and around 14% higher than the national average. But even that can't always compete with other sectors, Bailey, the MP, said. Meanwhile, many companies, like Amazon, actively recruit UK veterans as part of a government program pledging to support post-service careers. Amazon declined to comment when approached by BI. Bailey shared that other competing industries include infrastructure projects, such as the recent nationwide rollout of electric smart meters. He told BI those leaving the RAF for such companies "would find an easier job — because it's less regulated and controlled and demanding on their skills — paying equal or more than they would expect on the general market." In addition, security clearances make it hard to hire from abroad — and in any case, the UK's nearest European defense industry neighbors are themselves in a scramble for talent. The expansion of a talent-hungry tech sector compounds a much longer-running skills issue. Andrew Kinniburgh, a spokesperson for manufacturing industry trade body Make UK, told the Defence Select Committee in March that the country is in an "arms race" for engineers. Campaigners say STEM has been neglected from the earliest schooldays up, causing a shortage that has seen all sectors — not just military — competing for talent. That situation wasn't helped by the Apprenticeship Levy, a 2016 attempt to invigorate private sector investment in training. It was so cumbersome that schemes fell by 172,000 across all sectors in its first year, according to HR industry body CIPD. The government now says it's streamlining the process. Industry experts told BI that another reason defense sector workforce skills have atrophied is a long-term lack of investment in the military that began in the 1990s. The defense ministry spokesperson told BI that the current government is addressing the country's security "after years of hollowing out." People like naval architects and high-level engineers take decades to nurture, and when orders dry up, "you have skill fade in these areas quite quickly," said Sam Cranny-Evans, a freelance defense analyst and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. "Once they're gone, they're gone," he told BI. "Standing them up again is really hard." COVID-19 lockdowns haven't helped. Suddenly, people with 10 to 15 years left in their careers decided to accelerate their retirement plans, leaving what Oxley called a "handover cliff edge" and a decadelong knowledge gap. The problem has come to a head before. In the early 2000s, BAE Systems took over a contract to produce the Astute-class submarine, following a 10-year gap since the development of the earlier Vanguard-class sub. Dated skills — among other factors — became a major problem, forcing the UK to bring in General Dynamics Electric Boat, a US company, to help at an eventual cost of about $145 million. The project ran years late, exceeded its budget by hundreds of millions of pounds, and spurred multiple reckonings that still reverberate today. Janet Garner, BAE Systems' future workforce director for submarines, told BI the company is focused on ensuring it has a strong submarine workforce. She highlighted its $33.5-million training center and said early careers programs are "up to record levels." An analysis by Navy Lookout highlighted lessons learned, saying that the next-generation Dreadnought went into production with a much more experienced workforce. But across the industry, there's a long road ahead. Oxley and Bailey say there's a lot more to be done, and that skills need to be addressed at the level of education. Both are calling for schools and colleges to develop applied STEM curricula showcasing the appeal of working in defense. Encouraging a much more flexible career structure, allowing people to "zig-zag" between the military and civilian sectors and making the relationship complementary rather than competitive, is also among the suggestions being made. Tan Dhesi, a lawmaker heading up the UK parliament's Defence Select Committee, declined to comment in detail while the inquiries continue, but said that he had seen "clear and consistent" evidence that the issue needs addressing. "We need a sea of talent," Oxley said. "At the moment, it's a puddle." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
27-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
The UK defense industry's biggest problem isn't just cash — it's also companies like Amazon
Like much of the world, the UK is ramping up its defense spending. But defense companies are now competing with an expanding talent-hungry tech sector for scarce skills. "We need a sea of talent," a defense sector insider told BI. "At the moment, it's a puddle." When Calvin Bailey — a member of the UK parliament — was a squadron commander in the country's Royal Air Force, he saw a shift in how his engineering-heavy workforce changed careers. In the early 2010s, people would leave the service "like for like," he told Business Insider — meaning they were leaving the military for complementary roles in the defense and aerospace industry. However, by around 2017, he said, a new sprawl of high-tech companies and major infrastructure projects created a demand for skills that the military had nurtured, such as robotics, advanced engineering, and logistics. Bailey wrote in a recent piece for War on the Rocks that he watched as the military "hemorrhaged" certified aircraft engineers. "I found myself competing with unlikely adversaries: Amazon logistics hubs," he wrote. As the UK attempts to redress the effects of decades of reduced military spending, it's not just a steep price tag that has experts worried. It's a shrunken — and highly competitive — skills pipeline. Bailey still doesn't think the UK is spending enough, he told BI. But even if the country throws money at it, "you haven't got the skills base with which to go and do the work that's required." A skills shortage in the defense industry Paul Oxley, a spokesperson for UK defense trade association ADS Group, told BI that demand for skilled workers now presents the defense industry's "largest barrier for growth." This covers everything from traditional skills like welding and high-end engineering, to growing fields like cybersecurity, digital, and AI capabilities. Oxley said that surveys of ADS members have seen the issue of talent leapfrog energy prices to become the top worry for many companies. These concerns come amid an increased commitment by the UK to defense spending — to 2.5% of GDP — that has defense-related industries looking out for new orders. Big projects are already in the works. Dreadnought-class submarines, the Tempest fighter jet, and Type 26 and 31 frigates are due to come into service in the next decade or so. Yet in March, Kevin Craven, the head of ADS Group, warned lawmakers that skills shortages are "combining to a point where both the defence and aerospace industry cannot fulfil the demand that they have." These warnings also come as the government prepares to publish its latest Defence Industrial Strategy, which a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said will help the UK have the "capability, skills and industrial resilience" for warfighting. Multiple skills initiatives are already underway, they added. An 'arms race' for skills The UK's defense sector pays an average of £39,900, Oxley said, which is about $53,000 and around 14% higher than the national average. But even that can't always compete with other sectors, Bailey, the MP, said. Meanwhile, many companies, like Amazon, actively recruit UK veterans as part of a government program pledging to support post-service careers. Amazon declined to comment when approached by BI. Bailey shared that other competing industries include infrastructure projects, such as the recent nationwide rollout of electric smart meters. He told BI those leaving the RAF for such companies "would find an easier job — because it's less regulated and controlled and demanding on their skills — paying equal or more than they would expect on the general market." In addition, security clearances make it hard to hire from abroad — and in any case, the UK's nearest European defense industry neighbors are themselves in a scramble for talent. A shortage decades in the making The expansion of a talent-hungry tech sector compounds a much longer-running skills issue. Andrew Kinniburgh, a spokesperson for manufacturing industry trade body Make UK, told the Defence Select Committee in March that the country is in an "arms race" for engineers. Campaigners say STEM has been neglected from the earliest schooldays up, causing a shortage that has seen all sectors — not just military — competing for talent. That situation wasn't helped by the Apprenticeship Levy, a 2016 attempt to invigorate private sector investment in training. It was so cumbersome that schemes fell by 172,000 across all sectors in its first year, according to HR industry body CIPD. The government now says it's streamlining the process. The looming threat of 'skill fade' Industry experts told BI that another reason defense sector workforce skills have atrophied is a long-term lack of investment in the military that began in the 1990s. The defense ministry spokesperson told BI that the current government is addressing the country's security "after years of hollowing out." People like naval architects and high-level engineers take decades to nurture, and when orders dry up, "you have skill fade in these areas quite quickly," said Sam Cranny-Evans, a freelance defense analyst and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. "Once they're gone, they're gone," he told BI. "Standing them up again is really hard." COVID-19 lockdowns haven't helped. Suddenly, people with 10 to 15 years left in their careers decided to accelerate their retirement plans, leaving what Oxley called a "handover cliff edge" and a decadelong knowledge gap. The problem has come to a head before. In the early 2000s, BAE Systems took over a contract to produce the Astute-class submarine, following a 10-year gap since the development of the earlier Vanguard-class sub. Dated skills — among other factors — became a major problem, forcing the UK to bring in General Dynamics Electric Boat, a US company, to help at an eventual cost of about $145 million. The project ran years late, exceeded its budget by hundreds of millions of pounds, and spurred multiple reckonings that still reverberate today. Janet Garner, BAE Systems' future workforce director for submarines, told BI the company is focused on ensuring it has a strong submarine workforce. She highlighted its $33.5-million training center and said early careers programs are "up to record levels." An analysis by Navy Lookout highlighted lessons learned, saying that the next-generation Dreadnought went into production with a much more experienced workforce. But across the industry, there's a long road ahead. A 'puddle' of talent Oxley and Bailey say there's a lot more to be done, and that skills need to be addressed at the level of education. Both are calling for schools and colleges to develop applied STEM curricula showcasing the appeal of working in defense. Encouraging a much more flexible career structure, allowing people to "zig-zag" between the military and civilian sectors and making the relationship complementary rather than competitive, is also among the suggestions being made. Tan Dhesi, a lawmaker heading up the UK parliament's Defence Select Committee, declined to comment in detail while the inquiries continue, but said that he had seen "clear and consistent" evidence that the issue needs addressing. "We need a sea of talent," Oxley said. "At the moment, it's a puddle."
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Innovative British Army radio waves weapon neutralises drone swarm
A British Army radio wave trial has taken down a drone swarm for the first time. In what was the largest counter-drone swarm exercise British soldiers have been involved with to date, the soldiers successfully tracked, targeted and defeated the drone attack by using a new directed energy weapon which has been developed in the UK. The trial, which was recently completed at a weapons range in west Wales, applied a type of radiofrequency directed energy weapon (RF DEW) which has proven capable of neutralising multiple targets simultaneously with near-instant effect. The device's high frequency radio waves disrupt or damage electronic components inside the drones, which then causes them to crash or malfunction. RF DEW systems, which the Government has invested more than £40 million into researching, can defeat airborne targets at ranges of up to 1km and are effective against threats which cannot be jammed using electronic warfare. Successful experiments included the Army taking down two swarms of drones in a single engagement, while the project saw more than 100 drones being tracked, engaged and defeated using the weapon across all trials. Sgt Mayers, a senior remotely-piloted air systems operator from 106 Regiment Royal Artillery, was the first British soldier to bring down drones using a radiofrequency weapon. He said: 'RF DEW is an exciting concept. We found the demonstrator quick to learn and easy to use. With improvements on range and power, which could come with further development, this would be a great asset to Layered Air Defence.' It costs just 10p to fire each shot, which the Ministry of Defence has said would provide a cost-effective complement to traditional missile-based air defence systems. The successful trial comes as drone swarms are increasingly seen in use in front-line combat in Ukraine. Ukraine had to defend against attacks from more than 18,000 drones last year, according to UK Defence Intelligence. The Government will spend at least 10 per cent of the MoD's equipment procurement spend on novel technologies from 2025-26 as part of its Plan for Change, which will see improved national security. Earlier this year, John Healey, the Defence Secretary, pledged to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by April 2027. Maria Eagle, the minister for defence procurement and industry, said: 'This significant experiment exemplifies the strength of British innovation – driven by our home-grown industry, technology firms and scientific talent. 'We continue to strengthen our defence sector, adding more cutting-edge capabilities to keep the UK secure at home and strong abroad, while making defence an engine for growth across our towns and cities.' The development of RF DEW systems could protect the UK from disruption at airports and unidentified drones at security sensitive areas such as defence bases. The systems also support the Defence Industrial Strategy, helping the UK face global threats. Nigel MacVean, managing director of Thales Integrated Airspace-protection Systems, which led the development of the RF DEW demonstrator, said: 'Thales continues to be at the forefront of this pioneering technology, and we are proud to continue the research and development in this sector alongside our partners in government.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
