Aviation Procurement

Defence Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 21 Mar 2022 Closed: 11 Dec 2023 Parliament page
The Committee has decided to inquire into aviation procurement across the Armed Forces and will undertake two distinct but connected inquiries. The first will focus on the strategic context, existing contracts and capabilities, and the impact of planned reductions to the fleet, and will consider in particular: Will the proposals … Read more
5 Recommendations
14 Conclusions
1 Report
4 Oral sessions
4 Events
Activity timeline 10 events
14 Nov
2023
Report published
10 Sep
2023
Report published
17 May
2023
Oral evidence
17 May
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
22 Mar
2023
Oral evidence
22 Mar
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
29 Nov
2022
Oral evidence
29 Nov
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
28 Jun
2022
Oral evidence
28 Jun
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 4 sessions
17 May 2023
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Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton KCB · Ministry of Defence James Cartlidge MP, Minister for Defence Procurement Vice Admiral Rick Thompson · Ministry of Defence
22 Mar 2023
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Panel 2
Andy Netherwood - Squadron Leader (Rtd) Captain Royal Navy (Rtd) Dan Stembridge · Royal Aeronautical Society Lieutenant General USAF (Rtd) David Deptula · Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
29 Nov 2022
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Panel 1; Panel 2
Anna Keeling · Boeing Defence UK Ian Muldowney · BAE Systems Air Paul Livingston · Lockheed Martin Sir Kevin Leeson · Airbus UK
28 Jun 2022
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Dr Sophy Antrobus · Kings College London Justin Bronk · Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Tenth Report - Aviation Procurement: Winging it? HC 178 10 Sep 2023 19 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
2 results
Clear
3 Conclusion Deferred
Tenth Report - Aviation Procuremen…
F-35 fleet expansion faces high costs, slow growth, and unresolved deployment questions
Increasing the UK’s F-35 fleet beyond the 74 aircraft already planned would be one way to address the combat air capability gap, and this was an approach supported by several of our witnesses. However, although acquisition costs for the aircraft … Read more
Government Response
The government states it will procure a further 27 F-35 aircraft by the early 2030s and will consider increasing the overall fleet size in the mid-2020s as part of the next Strategic Defence Review. It also states it has adapted plans to increase F-35 maintainer numbers by 20% to improve resilience.
Ministry of Defence
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9 Conclusion Deferred
Tenth Report - Aviation Procuremen…
Implement without delay recommendations from recent report on systemic procurement issues
Whilst the E-7 is undoubtedly a capable aircraft, its procurement has been a woeful but depressingly familiar story of MoD failings and contractor underperformance combining to deliver a programme over time and over budget. Our recent report on defence procurement … Read more
Government Response
The government has deflected this recommendation by stating it has responded separately to the Defence Sub-Committee’s report on Defence Procurement.
Ministry of Defence
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Government Response AI assessment · 19 of 5 classified
Accepted 13
Deferred 2
Rejected 4
Total 5 recs + 14 conclusions