Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Defence Equipment and Support

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Formed
  
2 April 2007

Parent agency
  
Ministry of Defence

Jurisdiction
  
United Kingdom

Defence Equipment and Support

Headquarters
  
MoD Abbey Wood, England, United Kingdom

Minister responsible
  
Harriet Baldwin MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is a trading entity and organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence. It began operating on 2 April 2007 following the merger of the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics Organisation, under the leadership of General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue as the first Chief of Defence Materiel.

Contents

The organisation had a civilian and military workforce of around 29,000 (77 per cent civilian and 23 per cent military), in the UK and abroad. DE&S operates as a single Top Level Budget. As of 2008 the DE&S workforce was around 24,500, further reducing under the 'PACE' business improvement programme to around 21,000 by 2012. Of this, around 8,000 posts have been housed at Abbey Wood since 2012.

History

Defence Equipment and Support was established on 2 April 2007.

DE&S is overseen by the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology.

Senior officials

The organisation is under the leadership of the Chief of Defence Materiel, a four-star officer: an Admiral, General, Air Chief Marshal or civilian. After the restructuring in 2011 there are four three-star posts under the Chief of Defence Materiel. These are the positions of Chief of Materiel (Fleet), a Royal Navy Vice Admiral, and Chief of Materiel (Land), a British Army Lieutenant General (who also holds the appointment of Quartermaster-General to the Forces), Chief of Materiel (Air), a Royal Air Force Air Marshal and Chief of Materiel (Joint Enablers).

Chief Operating Officer

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) was responsible for project and programme delivery across DE&S. This includes supporting the equipment through life, and the performance of the industrial supply chain. The post was discontinued 1 June 2011.

Chiefs of Materiel

The Chiefs of Materiel (CofMs) are responsible for managing key relationships with the Capability Sponsor and User. They work at the strategic level to make sure that the operational readiness and sustainability needs of the User are met.

The CofMs ensure an ethos of support to operations is in place to the User, throughout all DE&S activity.

Chief of Corporate Performance

The Chief of Corporate Performance (CCP) was responsible for managing the business effectively and setting policy in key corporate functional areas. The post was discontinued as at 1 June 2011.

Major projects

DE&S manages a variety of defence procurement and support projects inherited from the DLO and DPA for all three services. Examples of current and future procurement projects include:

Vessels

  • Type 45 destroyer class.
  • Astute submarine class.
  • Albion landing platform dock class.
  • Bay landing ship dock class.
  • Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier class.
  • Global Combat Ship warship class.
  • General Purpose Frigate class
  • Tide-class tanker
  • Solid Support Ship
  • Vanguard submarine class.
  • Dreadnought-class submarine Replacement class for the Vanguard-Class

    • Aircraft

  • Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft.
  • F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fighter aircraft.
  • A400M transport aircraft.
  • C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft.
  • Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft
  • Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA)/Airbus A330 MRTT aerial refueling tanker.
  • Apache MkI attack helicopter.
  • Merlin HC3 support and Merlin HM1 anti-submarine warfare helicopters.
  • Hawk 128 advanced jet trainer.
  • Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.
  • Future Offensive Air System.
  • Airseeker
  • Protector UAV

    • Vehicles

  • Mastiff Cougar (vehicle) Protected Patrol Vehicle.
  • Ajax (Scout SV)
  • Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle.
  • Viking armoured personnel carrier.
  • Mechanised Infantry Vehicle
  • Multi Role Vehicle-Protected (MRV-P) (MRV-P)

    • Munitions

  • AIM-132 ASRAAM (air-to-air missile).
  • Meteor air-to-air missile.
  • Storm Shadow cruise missile.
  • Brimstone air-launched anti-tank guided missile.
  • FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile.
  • Main Battle Tank and Light Armour Weapon (MBT LAW) anti-tank missile.
  • Defence general munitions (DGM).
  • SPEAR, Selective Precision Effects At Range munitions, see for example, SPEAR 3

    • Other

  • Information Systems & Services
  • Future Integrated Soldier Technology modular infantry equipment system.
  • Bowman tactical communications system.
  • Skynet 5 strategic communications satellite system.
  • Light weapons, photography and batteries (LWPB)

    • Main locations

    As of 2016 the main locations (with staff numbers) were:

  • MoD Abbey Wood (7,920) - Head Office
  • DM Beith (220) - Defence Munitions
  • MoD Bicester (140) - Logistics
  • HMNB Clyde (100) - Fleet Support and Defence Munitions
  • HMNB Devonport (220) - Fleet Support and Defence Munitions
  • DM Kineton (240) - Defence Munitions
  • DM Longtown (120) - Defence Munitions
  • Ministry of Defence, London (90) - Policy
  • RAF Northolt (210) - British Forces Post Office
  • HMNB Portsmouth and DM Gosport (350) - Fleet Support and Defence Munitions
  • Rosyth Dockyard (120) - Fleet Support and Defence Munitions
  • RAF Waddington (170) - ISTAR Support
  • Yeovil (410) - Helicopter Support

    • Responsibility for 'Logistics, Commodities and Services' (including storage and delivery of non-weaponry equipment, such as food and clothing, to soldiers) was contracted out to the private sector in 2015 under an arrangement that included the transfer of 1,100 staff and construction of a new 'Defence Fulfilment Centre' at MoD Donnington.

    References

    Defence Equipment and Support Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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