UK defence body comments on UK National Defence Association report, A|D|S
Release Date: 2010-09-17
Commenting on the report produced Friday Sep 17, 2010, by the UK National Defence Association (UKDNA) Rees Ward, Chief Executive of A|D|S the UK's aerospace, defence and security trade organisation, noted that the report "echoed a number of the UK-based defence industry's concerns"."T. Defence spending has reduced from 4.4 per cent of GDP 20 years ago to 2.3 per cent today while other departmental budgets have grown considerably. This is despite our armed forces being asked to do more as the UK faces a more uncertain world now with many new global challenges.
Currently, UK industry can deliver on the country's priorities as outlined by the Government in terms of supporting our troops, boosting our economy especially through exports and delivering high-tech, long term jobs. The UK-based defence industry employs over 300,000 people and generated over £35 billion in turnover and £7.2 billion in exports in 2009.
Even further funding cuts will have a serious potential impact on the UK Industrial base. We believe that the Government should consider the operational and industrial implications of such cuts before irrevocable decisions are made. The country could lose valuable military and economic capabilities that will be prohibitively expensive to reconstitute. Defence is not an activity which you can turn on and off at will; capabilities take continuous investment and effort to sustain. The reduction of research and technology investment by 23 per cent over the last 3 years is an example of mis-conceived short term thinking which will undermine our ability to deliver future capabilities for our Armed Forces and will influence multinational companies' future investment plans in UK.”
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | A|D|S |
| Country: | United Kingdom |