The Ministry of Defence has assessed that the Iran conflict has so far had no significant impact on the UK’s ability to manufacture defence equipment, though it is continuing to monitor potential disruption to critical supply chains including chemical precursors and high-performance carbon fibre, Lord Coaker confirmed in parliamentary answers on 24 April.
Asked by Lord Fuller to assess the risks arising from limited UK production of key chemical precursors including sulphuric acid, acrylonitrile, siloxane and methacrylates, and from supply chain disruption caused by the Iran conflict, Coaker said the MoD was “actively engaged in de-risking critical defence supply chain vulnerabilities, working collaboratively with industry and our international partners to mitigate risks by better understanding our dependencies on a range of critical raw materials, including chemicals, used in the manufacturing of equipment for our Armed Forces.”
On the specific question of the Iran conflict’s impact, Coaker said the MoD was “continually assessing the potential impact on defence supply chains, particularly around fuel price increases and shipping disruption”, adding that “currently, the MOD assesses there has been no significant impact on the ability of the UK to manufacture defence equipment, but this will be kept under close review if the conflict continues.”
A second question asked specifically about the UK’s capability to manufacture ballistic protection, battlefield electronics and military aviation equipment in light of disruption to the acrylonitrile and high-performance carbon fibre supply chain, drawing the same response, with Coaker saying the government “monitors threats to critical pinch points in our supply chains, including the potential impact of the Iran war, to enable us to make informed decisions around how and if to intervene.”
Acrylonitrile is a key precursor in the production of carbon fibre, which is used extensively in modern military aviation including the F-35 and Typhoon airframes, as well as in ballistic protection systems and a range of battlefield electronics enclosures, making supply chain resilience in this area directly relevant to several of the UK’s most critical defence programmes.
Of the title, I wish it would hit manufacturing but in a positive way!
Which decade is the DIP coming out?