The Ministry of Defence is conducting a major wargame exercise with five leading defence companies this week to test how UK supply chains would perform under the pressures of a sustained, large-scale conflict, the government has announced.
Boeing, KNDS, MBDA, Rheinmetall and Tekever are participating alongside senior MoD leaders in an exercise designed to work through a scenario requiring a surge in demand for key equipment to be maintained over an extended period, examining where constraints may emerge and what actions government and industry can take to minimise risk.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard said defence needed to be able to “move fast to respond to an increasingly unpredictable and dangerous world” and that this meant “not just having the right capabilities, but ensuring our supply chains are resilient, responsive and able to sustain operations over time,” describing activities like the wargame as “essential to strengthening that readiness.”
National Armaments Director Rupert Pearce said the MoD was prioritising “more meaningful collaboration with companies of all sizes to meet the challenge of supporting our Armed Forces with the kit and equipment they need” and that supply chain wargaming played “a critical role by bringing MOD and industry together to test assumptions, identify opportunities to improve readiness and ensure that our plans can be delivered in practice.”
The exercise builds on a previous wargame held in December 2024 which stress tested ammunition and equipment supplies within a wartime scenario, and its findings will inform ongoing policy and legislative development, including work to improve defence readiness set out in both the Strategic Defence Review and the Defence Industrial Strategy. The Defence Industrial Strategy, say the Government, prioritises strengthening domestic supply chains in critical areas, diversifying the supplier base and ensuring smaller, innovative companies can play a greater role in equipping the armed forces.
