British Army moves towards Land Industrial Strategy

A 20-year comprehensive road map for the British Army's future equipment requirements and spiral development plans is to be included in the United Kingdom's Land Industrial Strategy when it is revealed later this year.

Speaking at the DSEI exhibition in London on 15 September, Colonel Tobias Lambert, assistant head of the British Army's Industrial Strategy office, said this would represent a shift in the way the army conducts its relations with industry. “We want to avoid a feast and famine approach,” he added.

International partnerships will also be at the heart of the new strategy. “We are working to be the international partner of choice,” he said. “There are huge benefits of interoperability [from international collaboration].”

Colonel Christopher Coton, the British Army's assistant head of concepts, told a DSEI audience that the Land Industrial Strategy is intended to drive innovation. “We want to cast our net as wide as possible,” he said. “We look to technology to change the way the army operates.”

The Army Warfighting Experiment series of events is set to continue between 2022 and 2024, with the aim of exploiting technologies pertinent to the urban environment, said Col Coton.

Colonel Tom Briggs, senior army advisor to the UK Defence Equipment and Support organisation, said the new Land Industrial Strategy would aim to substantially increase the export of UK land products, building on the success of UK maritime and air sector strategies.