Originally Posted by
Asturias56
It seems impossible to fix the method by which the UK buys kit - this is just the latest in a VERY long catalogue of similar stories.
Can anyone on here make any suggestions as to how it could be improved?
I'm sure many, many could.
My two penn'orth would be :
Resource it properly - by which I mean recruit, train
and retain a cadre of people with the correct domain knowledge and crucially engineering and programme management experience. Contrary to belief in business managemnt circles, possession of a process does not protect you from Captain Cockup unless it is written, implemented and maintained by people who understand its rationale / context. A systems engineer as an example is not easily interchangeable across domains. It is probably best explained as making sure you have people who know what they are supposed to do, how they are supposed to do it and crucially, why they are supposed to do it (NB the answer "so I don't get told off" is not the answer we're looking for). This also means that professionalising the requirements management function - rather than having it as a 2 year SO2/SO1 career path option needs to happen and will be quite difficult. People do not join up solely to write requirements and should not do so without acquiring the operational experience that helps them define and apply context. I once had an OA type try to tell me that a 35kt maximium speed for an ASW frigate was essential - because the model said so.
Fund it properly. That means long-term assured budgets - with associated responsibility / consequence for management thereof (see above for experienced and professional people) - rather than the soul destroying annual savings / enhancement rounds and consequent deferrals. The single most important (and thus far not implemented) recommendation of Sir John Parkers shipbuilding strategy was the provision of ring-fenced capital budgets. Without them, there is no certainty for MoD or industry and time and effort is spent in continual "what if" programme games instead of moving forwards.