Page 21 - Five Forces of Americanisation Richard Hooke 04072025 final post SDR1

The UK Defence Industry in the 21 Century
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The Five Forces of Americanisation

Industry’s Role in Modern Peacekeeping: Between Idealism and Realism

The relaxed East-West tension at the end of the Cold War prompted major cuts in defence spending
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worldwide. Whilst winning the world’s largest defence export contract in Saudi Arabia in 1985 went
some way to ameliorate their effect on the UK, rationalisation and consolidation was a matter of
policy.

20 years on, the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of the ability of its defence industry
to supply ammunition, equipment and technical support in serving the country’s interests in foreign
affairs and ultimately and maintaining its own security. The industry’s contribution to both national
and international defence and security is one of three themes that stand out from the last twenty
years:
1. the re-emergence of the Defence Industrial Base (“DIB”), both as a concept and in practice
2. the recognition of international trade in defence equipment as a major tool in defence and
security diplomacy and, increasingly, the potential for the wider, aggressive use of trade to
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augment military power by Coercive Dealmaking .
3. the increased significance of international collaboration, even as the established, post-Cold
War, security framework begins to show signs of fragmentation.
In 2021, with Brexit achieved and the UK government keen to embrace the freedom this promised,
the national DIB was once again considered an important component of a newly independent Britain.
The Boris Johnson government’s paper, “Global Britain in a Competitive Age”, an Integrated Review
of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (“IR”), formally recognised the importance of a
strong national defence industry. It held that the UK’s DIB has a significant role to play in Britain’s
influence on world affairs: from trade to diplomacy to peacekeeping and, ultimately, of course, in
fighting wars. The IR sponsored a new Defence & Security Industrial Strategy” (“DSIS”) setting out a
range of significant new policies.
From an industrial perspective, the DSIS published three critically important policy decisions:
i. replacing the former policy of “global competition by default” with “a more flexible and
nuanced approach” to procurement
ii. identifying the UK’s priorities in terms of the specific capabilities that the government believed
must be provided by its on-shore DIB: “nuclear deterrence, submarines, cryptography and
offensive cyber”: the four strategic imperatives
iii. Developing closer collaboration between government and industry in order to achieve
“greater export success”.
Sir Keir Starmer’s UK government took these policies a large step further. Published in December,
2024, its “Defence Industrial Strategy – Statement of Intent” set out its principles:
“The Government’s Manifesto stated that it would “bring forward a defence industrial strategy
aligning our security and economic priorities. We will ensure a strong defence sector and resilient
supply chains, including steel, across the whole of the UK. We will establish long-term partnerships
between business and government, promote innovation, and improve resilience. We will prioritise
UK businesses for defence investment and will reform procurement to reduce waste. We will
support industry to benefit from export opportunities, in line with a robust arms export regime
committed to upholding international law.”

The link between defence, trade and diplomacy is now at the forefront of Defence Reform, recognising
the contribution that defence makes to national prosperity. The 2025 Strategic Defence Review,
published in June, 2025, announced that its Reviewers will continue to publish their findings and
proposals over the coming months, including the formation of the Defence Investors Advisory Group,
publication of the Defence Reform and Efficiency Plan, a new Defence Diplomacy Strategy and a
Defence Industrial Strategy.

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07/07/2025 Richard Hooke 2025