Healey at the LDC: the MOD will test Britain with war games
"National security is the foundation for national stability and growth”, said defence secretary John Healey today, as he launched the UK’s first defence industrial strategy since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Speaking to Iain Martin at the LDC investment forum in London today, Healey said the government would use “war game” exercises, to play out military scenarios and test how well the Ministry of Defence and firms could maintain supplies to the front line if faced with intense fighting and supply chain disruption.
According to Healey, the full strategy - one that will create jobs across the country in military-focussed companies - will be published in late spring 2025. And investors and trade unions will be amongst those invited to offer their views on Britain’s defence sector.
In addition to Healey’s keynote speech, today’s conference - a winter gathering in the City of London of investors, industry, policymakers, academia and media - set into context the perilous world in which such security pledges are being made.
Aside from the threat posed by Putin’s Russia, panelists discussed the looming potential of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
How to counter these global security risks?
While Healey focussed on national resilience, other panelists throughout the day discussed wider forms of cooperation - “an allied solution”.
Shashank Joshi, The Economist’s Defence Editor, insisted he was “not fatalistic” about the notion “that China will simply steamroll us” because “collectively, we are very powerful”.
The “we” in question being Australia, the UK and the US in this instance, since Joshi was expressing optimism over the future of the trilateral AUKUS security pact.
While pillar one of AUKUS involves the building of a fleet of nuclear submarines, pillar two involves collaboration on a range of defence and security areas, particularly in emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and electronic warfare.
Such collaboration would allow allies to coordinate different strengths, argues Joshi. Britain, for instance, can benefit from Australia’s superior wind tunnels, which are useful for aerodynamics, while the UK’s expertise in the field of AI exceeds that of Australia’s.
Yet the speed and cost of AUKUS projects remain a challenge for the security pact, as does a lack of consistent leadership.
That said, Matt Westbrook, of DYNE Ventures, predicts that Trump 2.0 won’t pose too great a threat to the pact. On the contrary, a single market for AUKUS, which “would help speedy procurement”, may appeal to his administration.
Sophia Gaston, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, doubts too that the fast approaching Australian elections will put the project in jeopardy. On the contrary, “the challenger party in Australia is extremely committed to AUKUS and may want to go even faster”.
Though that’s not to say there isn’t a lively domestic debate in Australia about AUKUS. “As there should,” adds Gaston, “because 360 billion is an enormous budget bind”.
Increasing public support for this expensive project - in all three nations - will require strong political leadership, the panelists insisted.
Should there be a dedicated AUKUS minister? Perhaps, says Gaston. “This is something the AUKUS review can look at. Though, she would happily trade an AUKUS minister “for a Prime Minister properly dedicated to the project”.
Caitlin Allen
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