Preparing for the defence of the Realm

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In light of current conflicts, the UK is now faced with real-world military decisions that will affect our immediate future. Ed Gillett and Col Chambers assert that industry and government must switch to a readiness mindset before the European post-war peace shatters.

“My vision for the British Army is to field fifth-generation land forces that set that joint force up for the ‘unfair fight.’ Fifth-Generation Forces in this context exploit advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and autonomous systems to integrate data from all domains for precise battlefield impact. And these forces will lie at the heart of NATO, and be filled with the best soldiers in the world, supported by incredibly committed civilian staff and leading industrial partners, and the nation itself, and providing value at every turn — societally, politically, internationally, economically, as well as just militarily.”

– General Sir Roly Walker KCB DSO, Chief of the General Staff

Replacing process with urgency

Since the end of the Second World War, peace in Europe has dominated industrial, military and government thought patterns. Despite sporadic conflicts in the Balkan states, the prospect of war has gradually receded as European integration has grown. Russia’s partial invasion of Ukraine in 2014 was largely ignored — until eight years later, when everything changed.

Russia’s 2022 attempt to capture Ukraine suddenly threatened decades of what now seems to be complacency. In the space of a few months, the shock of war has prompted a complete re-assessment of ammunition, materiel and weaponry, from procurement to front line.

The challenge, though, is converting policy, planning and Strategic Defence Reviews into real-world action that impacts warfighting capabilities. The mindset established by almost 80 post-war years is proving extremely difficult to change, even as peace slips away.

Lessons from Ukraine

Despite Russia’s economic and numerical advantages Ukraine’s agility and innovation can act as a force multiplier; the key lesson is the speed of adaptation. Ukraine is facing an existential threat, with no time for complex procurement, tedious development, and perfectionist manufacturing.

Ukraine has adopted a ‘good-enough’ principle, based on a fast try, test, deploy cycle that delivers effective weaponry very rapidly. For example, Ukraine developed and adopted the Inguar-3 multirole armoured vehicle within two years. As a counterexample, the UK’s Ajax armoured fighting vehicle has taken 14 years to reach field trials.

The difference is that the UK’s mindset focuses on procuring exquisite pieces of equipment. When Ajax is delivered, it will be an engineering masterpiece. Under the pressure and life-threatening urgencies of war, Ukraine has fine-tuned its experimentation-to-exploitation capabilities, because on the battlefield, ‘good enough’ is all that matters.

Changing a mindset

Shaking off defence-industrial thought patterns that have evolved as a form of ‘creeping excellence’ in the post-war years will be far from easy, but there are positive signs that change is possible.

The technology world, driven by the extraordinary competition that fuels innovation, shows how a different approach can succeed. The pace of change is dictated by market appetite rather than government procurement, and delivering continuous improvement is embedded in the development process.

The competitive energy of the technology sector can catalyse rapid change, bringing new concepts that will accelerate development and delivery. While there is certainly a place for very large single projects with fixed objectives, such as an aircraft carrier or main battle tank, for the most part, a new, agile way of working is the only solution that can deal with the urgency of war.

Technology in action

In the technology business, ‘agile’ is a familiar concept, and many older ways of working are being blown away by innovation, supported by provable examples. Organizations that have moved from paper to electronic to integrated digital systems are vastly more efficient; can you imagine arranging a mortgage by post?

However, in making the transition, the military has accumulated very large numbers of independent systems. Many defence departments, even in advanced nations, report that they have several systems of record. The cost and complexity of unifying and standardizing these solutions can prove challenging, to say the least, underpinned by an attitude that says: “If it’s working, why bother?”

Regardless of the politics of defence, all militaries would like to deliver greater efficiency, and every pound spent on back-office administration reduces combat effectiveness. Evidenced by thousands of successful integration and digital transformation programmes, the technology sector can deliver impactful results that translate into enhanced warfighting capabilities.

For example, planning and logistics for even relatively small deployments can occupy staff for many weeks. Initial force and personnel estimates ripple out across materiel, transport, supplies, casevac and far more, and changes to the task will generate thousands of hours of rework. Yet in the commercial world, AI is already transforming extended supply chains, inventory, procurement and manufacturing, creating the ability to respond to shifting markets in near real time.

Meeting of minds

Forged by competition, IBM relies on a mindset that is dedicated to innovation and success. This translates into a commitment to the noble cause of the armed forces, who are deployed on dangerous operations to protect us from imminent threats.

In addition, IBM brings solutions that can be implemented  rapidly, from information management to inventory management. In the chaos of impending or actual conflict, a fully deployed, effective solution is better than nearly 80 years of policy recommendations. And IBM knows the value of integrated solutions, based on a single system of record, delivered at scale, and supported by cutting-edge AI, all of which can transform the ability to respond to the volatile, always-changing dynamics of the battlefield.

If you want peace, prepare for war

There are, regrettably, many intractable hot spots across the world where strong ongoing diplomacy is required to contain wider conflict. If jaw-jaw sadly fails, there may be precious little time to galvanise the defence-industrial base and adjust to the perils of war. IBM offers the technology, commitment and capabilities that can make a direct contribution to the defence of the realm – with the ambition that by preparing for war, we stay at peace.

About the authors

Ed Gillett is Client Partner, IBM Consulting and a former British Army Officer, having previously worked in senior roles at large international defence equipment suppliers.

Col Chambers is Managing Director, Technology, IBM UK Defence, National Security and Aerospace, with more than 25 years’ technology experience. Col specialises in providing and developing solutions that drive agility, change and innovation for UK Government.