The UK Ministry of Defence should increase its annual funding for national research and technology (R&T) activities by £250 million ($487 million), according to one of the UK's leading industry concerns.
"We are spending substantially too little on defence R&T," says Graeme Ferrero, managing director of defence technology for Qinetiq. Ferrero has called on the UK government to provide a further £250 million a year to support research activity, and to determine its future investment "in line with GDP growth, not inflation".
Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society's Defence Technology Strategy (DTS) conference in London last week, Ferrero cited projections which warn that China's defence capability will equal that of European nations by 2020, with Beijing also to increasingly export its military hardware. "We either invest now or relinquish our military advantage," he said, adding that the suggested increase - to around £650 million per year - would still place investment lower than experienced in the UK during the early 1990s.
UK industry has broadly welcomed the publication of the DTS last October and the earlier Defence Industrial Strategy, but sources at the conference also voiced concerns over the lack of accompanying funds and procurement reform required to drive forward their vision of more effectively leveraging the UK's research activity.
"We want a sustainable exploitation path for our investment, and longer-term budget planning," said a Finmeccanica source, while a BAE Systems official cautioned: "Why should industry invest so that the MoD can buy offshore?"
Prof Phil Sutton, the MoD's director general of R&T, said the government is currently assessing its defence investment priorities, including its level of funding for research.
"We are spending substantially too little on defence R&T," says Graeme Ferrero, managing director of defence technology for Qinetiq. Ferrero has called on the UK government to provide a further £250 million a year to support research activity, and to determine its future investment "in line with GDP growth, not inflation".
Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society's Defence Technology Strategy (DTS) conference in London last week, Ferrero cited projections which warn that China's defence capability will equal that of European nations by 2020, with Beijing also to increasingly export its military hardware. "We either invest now or relinquish our military advantage," he said, adding that the suggested increase - to around £650 million per year - would still place investment lower than experienced in the UK during the early 1990s.
UK industry has broadly welcomed the publication of the DTS last October and the earlier Defence Industrial Strategy, but sources at the conference also voiced concerns over the lack of accompanying funds and procurement reform required to drive forward their vision of more effectively leveraging the UK's research activity.
"We want a sustainable exploitation path for our investment, and longer-term budget planning," said a Finmeccanica source, while a BAE Systems official cautioned: "Why should industry invest so that the MoD can buy offshore?"
Prof Phil Sutton, the MoD's director general of R&T, said the government is currently assessing its defence investment priorities, including its level of funding for research.
Source: Flight International
