Pollard hails ‘golden age’ for UK defence industry

Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard has declared “a golden age for UK defence industry,” using a keynote at the Farnborough International Airshow to set out how the Defence Investment Plan is rebuilding British air power while trailing announcements to come on GCAP and the Storm Fighter uncrewed combat aircraft programme.

Speaking at the Aerospace Global Forum’s Defence Summit, part of this year’s Farnborough programme, the morning after the reshuffle that brought Wes Streeting to the Ministry of Defence, Pollard opened with unusual candour about his own uncertain position, thanking organisers for the chance to address them and “apologies for giving you the fright, as you have a minister who has not yet been confirmed in his place speaking on a platform,” as quoted in the transcript of the speech. “I’ve left my phone on loud at the back of the room, so if the PM rings, you’ll all be able to hear it. Don’t worry.”

The Minister said the new Prime Minister had set out in Downing Street his commitment to defence and to international partners, with NATO commitments topping the list, and pointed to the forces deployed as he spoke, troops in Estonia, Typhoon aircrew in Romania and a carrier strike group in the North Atlantic, providing deterrence against what he called the evolving threat from Russia. The Defence Investment Plan behind them, backed by what he described as a down payment over four years to deliver the 62 recommendations of the Strategic Defence Review, provides “a clear long-term demand signal for industry and importantly for investors as well,” he said.

Declaring himself “the son of a submariner and a very proud Navy brat,” Pollard said the RAF and the aerospace sector were big winners from the plan, with £31 billion committed to air and space over four years, Typhoon upgraded and sustained well into the 2040s, the ground laid for the first F-35As compatible with NATO’s nuclear mission and providing “a long overdue additional rung on our escalation ladder,” the transport fleet of A400Ms, Voyagers and C-17s sustained, and the jet training system fully recapitalised to ultimately deliver new aircraft for the Red Arrows. On the Global Combat Air Programme he offered only a tease, telling delegates: “spoiler alert, there’s some good news coming on GCAP later today,” while on Storm Fighter, the programme to deliver Europe’s first uncrewed combat jets, he said the new Defence Secretary “will have an exciting announcement to make on that tomorrow about the timeline for that programme, but no spoilers from me I’m afraid.”

Threading the industrial argument through the speech, Pollard cited £5 billion for drones and uncrewed systems, up £1 billion on previous plans, the ring-fenced £400 million annual innovation budget, the £20 million hypersonic target contract awarded to Lockheed Martin UK, 94 per cent of major contracts going to UK-based firms, £182 million in defence skills and the newly published Defence SME Action Plan, telling business and investors the challenge was straightforward: “Defence knows where it’s going. The demand signal is now very clear.” Defence, he argued, is an engine for growth and reindustrialisation providing careers in every nation and region, and he closed on the wider purpose: “We stand ready to support our allies, grow our economy and keep Britain safe.”