Carrier Strike – Preparing for deployment

The Department faces significant challenges if it is to build on its progress since 2017 and develop the full capabilities of a carrier strike group. Our recommendations are intended to support the Department in the next phase of the programme. It should: a) develop a full understanding of the costs of running and supporting Carrier Strike. This should be updated to reflect data from forthcoming deployments and include modelling on a range of operational scenarios. It should use these estimates to inform major decisions and understand the consequential impact on the Armed Forces as a whole. It should also test whether future funding provisions are realistic, including by improving the quality and governance of its financial planning forecasts;

b) restate its ambition and objectives for Carrier Strike when the Integrated Review is published. It should use this Review to form a revised plan to achieve its milestone of full operating capability for the Carrier Enabled Power Projection programme in 2026. At the strategic level, it should consider the extent of interoperability with allies and ensure its priorities are reflected in command plans. At an operational level, it should develop a detailed programme schedule, identifying interdependencies and critical path;

c) establish a clear view on the future enhancement costs of a carrier strike group. It should develop a consolidated long-term investment plan covering all capabilities in a carrier strike group, identifying out-of-service dates and when decisions are needed. It should also ensure commands are making coherent investment decisions to support the continued development of Carrier Strike. This should include identifying funding shortfalls that inhibit achieving its ambition and making strategic cross-command decisions about how to resolve them;

d) monitor the new governance arrangements for the Carrier Enabled Power Projection programme to ensure they are working effectively. The new arrangements need to provide cross-command oversight of funding commitments, a coherent approach to managing developments, and clear responsibilities for decision-making on Carrier Strike operations. These arrangements should address any potential conflicts within or between commands, and ensure long-term development or operational needs are not undermined by short-term financial pressures; and

e) conduct in-depth lessons-learned exercises on the Carrier Enabled Power Projection projects. The Department should ensure that it assesses the factors that lead projects to succeed or fail, including the root causes, and disseminate the lessons so that they are reflected in its management of other programmes. It should also look to disseminate lessons more widely across government.