GovWire

The Integrated Review Refresh 2023 (IRR), published in March of this year, identified that the transition to a multipolar, fragmented and contested world had happened more quickly and definitively than anticipated in IR2021.

Through an updated Strategic Framework, the IRR outlined that the government needed to respond to the deteriorating global security situation by:

• shaping the international environment
• increasing our focus on deterrence and defence
• addressing the vulnerabilities that leave our nation exposed
• investing in the UKs unique strengths to generate strategic advantage

IRR was published alongside an announcement at the Spring Budget of an additional investment in Defence of 5bn over two years, along with an aspiration that the government should spend 2.5% of GDP on Defence over the longer term when the economic and fiscal conditions allow.

In recognition of the increasingly challenging security context, lessons learned from Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine and Defences contribution to all four pillars of the IRR, the government has therefore published Defence Command Paper 2023 (DCP23), which is a refresh of the 2021 Defence Command Paper, Defence in a Competitive Age (DCP21).

Events since the publication of DCP21 have shown that we were right to make the commitments we did. The UK has led the way in Europe on support for Ukraines defence, galvanising the international community. The UK has remained a leading contributor to NATO and has demonstrated our global reach though activity across all domains around the world, including in the South Atlantic, Caribbean, High North, across Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as the Indo-Pacific.

DCP23 is required to set out how Defence would respond to the changing context and deliver on the IRR within its resource envelope, increasing its productivity, and focusing on areas that would achieve real-world impact.

In 2021, Defence set out comprehensively how we would design and equip our Armed Forces for the decades ahead. The majority of that is unchanged in DCP23. However, there are some areas that we have identified where we need to evolve or accelerate our approach, in order to respond to the changing environment and become more productive with the resources we already have.

These are:

• our approach to our People
• how we put science and technology at the heart of our force design and capability development
• how we kickstart a new relationship with industry
• how we become more productive

The second part of DCP23 sets out how Defence will deliver on the governments ambition through our nuclear enterprise and our conventional forces. DCP23 outlines how we will step up our commitment to NATO, aligned with the direction of IR2023 and the July 2023 NATO Leaders Summit in Vilnius.

DCP23 also explains how we will invest in strategic enablers, infrastructure and the stockpiles needed to make our capabilities resilient and credible. And it sets out how we will bring greater coherence to our global operations through a Global Response Force.

In line with the IRR, DCP23 sets out the importance of our relationships around the world, including through AUKUS and the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). Finally, DCP23 explains how Defence will continue to contribute to strengthening the nations resilience.

DCP23 articulates a new and clear purpose for Defence. Our mission is clear: to protect the nation and help it prosper. Delivering the reforms in DCP23 will ensure that we are able to deliver on our purpose now and in the years ahead.