Lords Committee to hear from senior experts on the UK’s defence R&D priorities
Monday 18 July 2022
On Wednesday 20 July the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee will hold an evidence session as part of its continuing inquiry: Defence concepts and capabilities: from aspiration to reality. The Committee will explore the place of emerging technology in the UK’s defence strategy and the general policy approach around defence research and development
The session will start at 10.30am and will be available to watch live or on demand on Parliament TV or attend in person in Committee Room 4, Palace of Westminster.
Giving evidence will be:
10.30am
- Dr Kenneth Payne, Deputy Head and Director of Research, Defence Studies, King's College London and;
- Dr Simona Soare, Research Fellow for Defence and Military Analysis, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Questions will include:
- Previous witnesses have noted that the Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper place a bet on new and emerging disruptive technologies. Such technologies are developing fast, yet with much uncertainty over their full future military potential. A bet on R&D may also imply a trade-off force size. How well is the Government prepared to adapt to these pressures? What challenges can you identify?
- What is your assessment of the institutions and processes for translating research and innovation into military capability? Do you believe that there are any logjams in that process? What are the strengths and weaknesses of key institutions, such as Dstl, DE&S and UKRI? What improvements or changes are needed to best enable the UK’s research base to facilitate national security goals?
- When discussing the relationship between the Ministry of Defence and businesses, start-ups and academia, the topic of ‘cultural change’ is often brought up. What sort of culture change is needed, if any, particularly to facilitate cross-governmental cooperation with private and academic actors? Are there other areas where the MoD will need to reform its approach?
- In the Defence Command Paper, the Government committed £6.6 billion to research, development and experimentation over the next four years, in order to “implement a set of R&D pipelines which will address critical and enduring military capability challenges to deliver a decisive strategic edge”. How effective and efficient is the UK currently in terms of defence R&D expenditure? Is the £6.6 billion investment adequate to meet the goals set out in the Defence Command Paper?
