Page 38 - 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

Training (“IMET”) and technical support as well as financing the purchase of US equipment (“FMF”).
Managed by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (“DCSA”) within the Department of Defense, it
was enhanced in October 2024 by the formation of the Defence Security Cooperation Service (“DSCS”),
a few days after signing a US$920m FMF loan facility for Rumania. This seemed prophetic, as the
refreshed DSCA role focuses on its Mission to “advance U.S. Defense and foreign policy interests by
building the capacity of foreign partners in order to encourage and enable allies and partners to
respond to shared challenges”.

Source: US Department of Defence: April, 2025
It is difficult to rationalise this Strategy Framework – “Security through Global Partnerships” - with the
new US government’s comments on European defence, on its rationale for tariffs and on its
relationships with Canada, Greenland and Mexico. It is clear that the work of the DSCA, its definition
of the breadth of the US Security Cooperation community and the DoD’s long term commitments to
the defence industry and foreign partners at large, contrast with, if not contradict, the notion of
America First.
The UK has developed a significant presence among foreign companies operating in the USA, both
through successful collaboration on major defence equipment programmes on air, land and at sea,
and through locating or acquiring manufacturing and support locations in America, including securing
roles in running Government-Owned Contractor-Operated facilities there.
BAE Systems epitomises the UK’s continuing relevance to US defence across all domains. In 2024, it
generated just under 27% of total revenues in the UK but 48% of its group total was secured in the
USA, contributing significantly to its position as the sixth largest defence contractor in the world.
QinetiQ (an estimated 20% US sales), Chemring (an estimated 23% of revenues in the USA, having
doubled its American manufacturing footprint in January, 2024) and Rolls-Royce also operate from a
number of US locations. But BAE stands tallest in this group. Its experience and expertise as an
international prime contractor is of inestimable value to the UK economy. It is one of possibly only
three companies in Europe with this capability: to manage projects spanning not simply defence but
a wide range of industrial, transportation and infrastructure, energy and public service provision. After
all, providing a military capability often involves rebuilding or regenerating an entire economy.

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07/07/2025 Richard Hooke 2025