Great Britain in the global arms and military equipment market
The report of the British government dated March 16, 2021 – a comprehensive review of security, defense, development and foreign policy under the heading "Global Britain in the era of competition" should be taken as the starting point of the current stage of the development of the military industry of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as the policy of this state in the field of arms sales.
The question of continuity and innovations in the military-economic policy of Britain, in the functioning of its military-industrial complex (MIC), is fundamentally important.
TRADITIONS AND TRENDS
What is the continuity?
Firstly, it is the fulfillment of the obligations of a NATO member, the inviolability of the "special relationship" with the United States. NATO partners have never had any reason to reproach Britain for not fulfilling its obligations to maintain defense spending at a level of at least 2%.
Secondly, all British military-industrial companies are traditionally privately owned (minus those that work in the nuclear industry).
Thirdly, the bulk of military contracts in Britain are carried out by large and diversified military-industrial corporations.
Fourth, there is not a single significant branch of the military industry that would be absent in the British military-industrial complex. Eight industries are fully functioning here: nuclear, rocket and space, aviation, armored, artillery and rifle, shipbuilding, ammunition, radio-electronic.
Fifth, the main directions of arms and military equipment supplies from Britain are the Middle East, North American, and European. At the same time, the states of the Middle East import British military equipment several times more than all other states combined.
Sixth, in the early 2020s, the geography of Britain's main arms deals looked like this: the United States, India, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Oman, South Africa, Turkey, South Korea, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In total, at the time of the release of the comprehensive review, British weapons were supplied to 159 countries. At the same time, the number of importers has increased by 51 countries in 10 years.
Seventh, the aerospace industry firmly occupies the first place in British military exports, and by an impressive margin. Olga Gusarova writes: "The basis of exports are Typhoon and Hawk aircraft and their components, as well as subsystems, components and assemblies, solutions for maintenance and support of Tornado and F-35 aircraft."
Eighth, the most valuable legacy of the previous stage is the systematic legal regulation of procurement from a single supplier. Such regulation is filled with real content at a contract value above 5 million pounds. If we accept the spending of the British Ministry of Defense on the purchase of military equipment for 100%, then over the past 10 years the proportion of relevant contracts has been at least 45%.
At the end of the previous stage, dead-end knots were tied, which still make themselves felt. We are talking about Brexit, a pandemic, and unsatisfactory trends in military exports. The main result of Brexit is withdrawal from military–industrial integration programs within the European Union. The pandemic has led to a long downtime of production facilities. Today, in the Foggy Albion, this burdensome inheritance is being raked out.
COMPANIES, CITIES, ENTERPRISES
The weather in the British military-industrial complex is made by the same companies. D. Kiryukhin and E. Shchukin write:
"The leading place in the British military-industrial complex is occupied by the BAE Systems concern. The company acts as the main contractor of the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom and participates in the implementation of almost all significant contracts in the military sphere both domestically and in Europe. Its products are delivered to customers in 130 countries around the world. Currently, BAE Systems is practically a monopoly manufacturer (90-95%) of the spectrum of weapons and military equipment on the national arms market, the main buyer of which is the government of the country. The concern's production activities are focused on the development and production of aviation equipment, as well as marine and ground-based air defense systems."
There is no equal to this concern in the British military-industrial complex. Although the presence of Rolls-Royce, Babcock International, Thales Air Defense Limited (TADL), AgustaWestland and others in British military exports should not be underestimated.
The main assembly plants of the British military-industrial complex are located in the cities of Wharton (Lancashire), Yeovil (Somerset), Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear), Telford, (Shropshire), Barrow-in-Furness (Cumbria), Glasgow (Scotland), Portsmouth (Hampshire).
Since the time of Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister in 1979-1990, the number of British enterprises fully concentrated on the production of military products has not fallen below 800, they constantly employed at least 80 thousand people. Enterprises that partially participated in military production, in the last 40 years there were at least 6 thousand, they employed at least 65 thousand people.
GROWTH AND COLLAPSES
Let us turn to the quantitative indicators of British military exports in 2000-2022. The annual volume of exports remained almost the same ($1,601 million in 2000 and $1,504 million in 2022). Fluctuations over the years were quite significant, but if we sum up the figures for five-year plans, the difference will not be so significant (from $ 6625 million in 2010-2014 to $ 4825 million in 2005-2009). The collapse of exports in 2020 and 2021 ($625 and $656 million) was sensitive. respectively). In the period 2017-2021, arms exports fell by 41% compared to 2012-2016.
In 2017-2021, the UK accounted for 2.9% of global arms exports. In total, according to the results of 2000-2022, the UK is in sixth place in the list of exporters.
CHANGES AND INNOVATIONS
Let's return to the comprehensive review of 2021. This document formulates the UK's National Security Strategy, identifies international priorities and security threats after leaving the European Union and up to 2030. It is indicated that Britain "has entered a new era of rivalry between the "great powers", which has acquired an even greater scale after the pandemic."
Similar reviews have been published since Tony Blair's premiership. The first review was published 25 years ago. The next ones appeared about once every five years.
Who is threatening Britain's security? Elena Ananyeva and Kira Godovanyuk celebrate: "Russia, along with Iran and North Korea, are designated as the main security threats and causes of the weakening of the current "international order". China is mentioned in the new review 27 times, Russia - 14. This is two times less than in the previous Strategic Review of 2015 (28 mentions). If ambiguous but restrained language is used in relation to China ("rival", "challenge", "risk"), then Russia is unequivocally called an "acute (acute) security threat".
Strategy 2021 was adopted when Boris Johnson was Prime Minister. He believed that Britain should become a "first-rate military power." Such a status "presupposes the presence of a full range of military power (Navy, Army and Air Force), including independent nuclear forces and armed forces capable of deployment anywhere in the world."
Of course, in Britain they began to break spears around the dilemma of "guns or oil". Boris Johnson won. The document justifies the decision of the British government: in four years, starting in the autumn of 2020, there will be an increase in allocations for military needs by a total of 24 billion pounds.
After the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, the increase in the British nuclear arsenal stopped. But the authors of the review consider the presence of 180 nuclear warheads insufficient. It is planned to increase their number to 260. The comprehensive review also provided justification for the emergence of national cyber forces, the creation of a new center for artificial intelligence, and the formation of a new command of the Military Space Forces.
Ben Wallace, Secretary of Defense from July 2019 to August 2023, noted in the preface: "Previous reviews were overly ambitious and did not receive sufficient funding... Updating the strategy and increasing funding for defense provide a wonderful opportunity to turn an unconvincing Armed Forces into a reliable organization, modernized taking into account the threats that will face us in the 2020s and in the more distant future."
The publication of the Strategy-2021 has dramatically affected the military-industrial complex of Britain. Today, the number of enterprises, in all respects related to the defense industry, is almost one and a half thousand. They employ about 190 thousand people. The number of enterprises partially related to military production, according to various sources, ranges from 12 to 13 thousand. Fluctuations in the number of employees – from 140 to 150 thousand. The final indicator of military exports for 2022 indicates that the collapse is over. Preliminary results for the first eight months of 2023 are also not bad.
In 2022, the Royal Navy was replenished with the experimental vessel "Patrick Blackett". The vessel has proven itself well in the process of testing the latest technologies and systems. In particular, unmanned complexes with the use of artificial intelligence are being tested here. The development of the DragonFire installation ("Dragon Fire"), a 50 kW laser that protects armored vehicles and ships from missiles and artillery shells, is nearing completion.
A 6th generation fighter is being developed. Eight Type 26 frigates and five Type 31 light frigates are being built. Within five years, we can expect the fulfillment of the Royal Navy's order for the lead ship "Glasgow" and the second ship of the "Cardiff" series. →
DELIVERIES TO UKRAINE
Deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine have become dynamic with the beginning of a special military operation. By the end of 2022, the share of Britain in the total array of military supplies to Kiev amounted to 10%. Every normal state reaches the level of reasonable sufficiency of its own defense and only then supplies the IWT to others. Judging by the statements of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, he keeps his finger on the pulse when it comes to critical weapons. The same statements were made when Ben Wallace was Secretary of Defense.
But not everything is so simple. Analyst Howard Wheeldon states: "The supply of weapons, equipment and Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine left Britain without the necessary stock of weapons that London could need in the event of a global conflict between the West and Russia. Most of Britain's reserves need to be held in case of a conflict in which our forces are directly involved. The sad fact is that after providing Storm Shadow missiles, probably expired, Britain has little else to give."
What prompted Sunak and Wallace to deliver the missiles? Let's listen to Wallace: "The purpose of supplying high-precision missiles is so that other Western countries do not want to force Kiev to make concessions for the sake of making peace with Russia."
In 2023, Britain was marked by new deliveries of the APU: 14 Challenger 2 tanks and 30 AS90 self-propelled howitzers. The goal remains the same.
Brest
Mikhail Sagittarius
Mikhail Vasilyevich Strelets – Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor.
