UK defence is getting a makeover, with new people in charge and new budgets planned. 

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is undergoing the “biggest shake up…for over 50 years”, John Healey the UK Secretary of State for Defence announced to DSEI and other media representatives at the Institute for Government on 18 February.  

Reform is essential because the current defence system “doesn't work in the way that we need it to for an increasingly dangerous world”, Healey stated.

“The decisions we make right now and over the coming weeks will not only define the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine, but the security of our world for a generation to come”.

As part of this reform, Healey will implement three new centrally managed budgets – readiness, operations, and investment – and establish a "quad" of senior leadership by 31 March. These measures aim to improve accountability and streamline defence at every level.

The quad comprises the Armaments Director, Chief of the Defence Staff, Permanent Secretary, and Chief of Defence Nuclear.

The new Armaments Director will be responsible for improving procurement and driving growth. They will oversee the investment budget, consolidating “eight separate procurement budgets across the organisation into one”, to “cut waste and reduce duplication”. In essence, they will manage the “entire end-to-end acquisition system for the MoD”, execute a budget of more than “GBP20 billion to build and sustain our national arsenal”, and save “the taxpayer at least GBP10 billion over the next decade”. 

The Chief of the Defence Staff, meanwhile, will command the newly established Military Strategic Headquarters as well as oversee the readiness budget and the chiefs of the services, holding the heads accountable for daily spending.

The Military Strategic Headquarters will be responsible for the new operations budget as well as force design and war planning across the integrated force.

Running a leaner, more agile Department of State will be the Permanent Secretary who will have more power to lead arguments across Whitehall and with allies, while the Chief of Defence Nuclear will continue to command and deliver the national nuclear enterprise.

These officials “will lead a defence which is more concentrated on war, fighting, readiness and on deterrence. They’ll shift the approach as an organisation which too often has been obsessed with process, to one focused on outcomes in which information flows quickly, accountabilities are clear, and results are demanded”, he concluded. 

The event occurs amidst a period of heightened unease over European security. In acknowledgement of this, Healey emphasised the need for Europe to assume a more proactive role in its own defence. With respect to a possible peace deal for Ukraine, he underscored the importance of having a credible security guarantee supported by both Europe and the US as their involvement “can provide the deterrence to Putin”.