Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is a trading entity and joint-defence organisation within the UK

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

. It began operating on 2 April 2007, following the merger of the MoD's

Defence Procurement Agency The Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), was an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence responsible for the acquisition of materiel, equipment and services, for the British armed forces. Led by the Chief of Defence Procuremen ...

and the Defence Logistics Organisation, under the

Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support The Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support, formerly the Chief of Defence Materiel, is a senior post in the UK Ministry of Defence created in April 2007. It merges the roles of Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief of Defence L ...

. DE&S initially had a civilian and military workforce of around 29,000 (77 per cent civilian and 23 per cent military) in the UK and abroad. As of 2022 the DE&S workforce had reduced to around 11,500 with the majority based at MoD Abbey Wood in Bristol.

History

Defence Equipment and Support was established on 2 April 2007. It is overseen by the

Minister of State for Defence Procurement The Minister of State for Defence Procurement is, as a Minister of State, a mid-level defence minister in the Ministry of Defence of the British Government. The current incumbent of the post, Conservative MP Alex Chalk, was appointed in October 2 ...

. The organisation supports

Strategic Command United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear dete ...

and the individual armed services through Navy Command, Army Headquarters and Headquarters Air Command.

Strategic governance

Defence Equipment and Support Board

Includes: Mark Russell became chairman in November 2019. The Board provides strategic governance for DE&S and a robust forum for independent, non-executive support and constructive challenge to the Chief Executive and the Executive Committee. The DE&S Board delegates some activities to sub-committees of the Board, namely the Audit, Remuneration, Programme Review and Nomination Committees. The Chairman ensures that the Board receives feedback on these sub-Committees and that it is able to consider their recommendations.

Direction and oversight

Executive Committee Defence Equipment and Support

Includes: DE&S is led on a day-to-day basis by the Executive Committee, which consists of the Chief Executive Officer, Director Finance, Director Human Resources, Director Strategy & Corporate Operations, and five Director Generals who lead the delivery of the programme of work in their respective domains.

Sub Committees

Includes: The following subordinate Committees provide specialised support to the Executive Committee.

Administration of DE&S and senior leadership

The organisation has been under the leadership of a civilian Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support since 2015.

Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support

Director General for Air/Army/Navy/Strategic Enablers/Commercial/Resources

The Chiefs of Materiel (CofMs), now Director Generals (DGs), are responsible for managing key relationships with the Capability Sponsor and User. They work at the strategic level to make sure that the operational readiness and sustainability needs of the User are met. The DGs ensure an ethos of support to operations is in place to the User, throughout all DE&S activity.

Chief of Fleet Support

Director General (Ships)

=Directorate of Ships Support

=Directorate of Ships Acquisition

Chief of Materiel (Submarines)

This group now is part of the Submarine Delivery Agency.

=Directorate of Submarine Acquisitions

=Directorate of Submarines Support

Director General (Land)

=Directorate of Land Equipment

=Directorate of Weapons

Director General (Air)

=Directorate of Air Support

=Directorate of Combat Air

Director General Strategic Enablers

=Directorate of Intelligence, Surveillance, Target, Acquisition & Reconnaissance

=Directorate of Engineering & Safety

=Directorate of Digital Information

=Directorate of Programmes & Change

=Directorate of Helicopters

=Directorate of Support

Directorate-General (Commercial)

Commercial Operations

Commercial Capability

Commercial Improvements

Directorate-General (Resources)

= Financial Planning & Analysis

Directorate Human Resources

=Deputy Director HR Head of Function - HR

=HR Operations

=Performance & Reward

=Talent & Organisation Development

=HR (Strategic Enablers)

=HR (Land)

=HR (Air & Ships)

=HR (Military Human Resources & Commanding Officer)

Directorate Strategy & Change

=International Relations Group

=Corporate Communications

=COVID-19 Operations Cell

Major projects

DE&S manages over 600 defence

procurement Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or s ...

and support programmes for the UK's armed services. Examples of current and future procurement projects include:

Ships

* Type 45

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

class *

landing platform dock An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently oper ...

class * landing ship dock class * class * Type 26 frigate

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...

class *

Type 31 frigate The Type 31 frigate or Inspiration class, and formerly known as the Type 31e frigate or General Purpose Frigate (GPF), is a planned class of frigate intended to enter service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the 2020s alongside the subma ...

class * * * Solid Support Ship *

class * – replacement class for the ''Vanguard'' class

Aircraft

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...

fighter aircraft * A400M transport aircraft *

C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of t ...

transport aircraft *

Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desig ...

transport aircraft * Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA)/

Airbus A330 MRTT The Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) is a European aerial refuelling and military transport aircraft based on the civilian Airbus A330. A total of 16 countries have placed firm orders for approximately 68 aircraft, of which 51 h ...

aerial refueling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...

tanker * Apache MkI attack

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

* Merlin HC4 support and Merlin Mk2

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typ ...

helicopters * Hawk 128 advanced jet trainer * Watchkeeper

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controll ...

Sentinel R1 The Raytheon Sentinel is an airborne battlefield and ground surveillance aircraft formerly operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). While based on the Bombardier Global Express ultra long-range business jet, the prime contractor for the Sentine ...

* Beechcraft Shadow R1 * Airseeker * Protector UAV * Boeing P-8A Poseidon MRA Mk1

Vehicles

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

and Warrior Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme *

Challenger 2 The FV4034 Challenger 2 (MOD designation "CR2") is a third generation British main battle tank (MBT) in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. It was designed and built by the British company Vickers Defence Systems (now known ...

and Challenger Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme * Mastiff Cougar (MRAP) Protected Patrol Vehicle * Ajax (Scout SV) * Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle *

Jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

* Mechanised Infantry Vehicle, ie Boxer * Multi Role Vehicle-Protected (MRV-P) (MRV-P)

Munitions

* AIM-132 ASRAAM (

air-to-air missile The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back) An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying a ...

) *

Meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...

air-to-air missile * Storm Shadow

cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warh ...

* Brimstone air-launched

anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

FGM-148 Javelin The FGM-148 Javelin, or Advanced Anti-Tank Weapon System-Medium (AAWS-M), is an American-made portable anti-tank missile system in service since 1996, and continuously upgraded. It replaced the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in US service. Its fire- ...

anti-tank guided missile *

NLAW The Saab Bofors Dynamics NLAW (pronounced: ''"N-LAW"'', ), also known as the MBT LAW or RB 57, is a fire-and-forget, lightweight shoulder-fired, and disposable (single-use) line of sight (LOS) missile system, designed for infantry use. The ...

(MBT LAW)

anti-tank Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first dev ...

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket ...

* SPEAR, Selective Precision Effects At Range munitions; see, for example, SPEAR 3

Other

* Future Integrated Soldier Technology modular

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

equipment system * Bowman tactical

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

system * Skynet 5 strategic

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...

system *Light weapons, photography and batteries (LWPB)

Main locations

As of 2016 the main locations (with staff numbers) were: * MoD Abbey Wood (7,920) - Head Office * DM Beith (220) - Defence Munitions * MoD Bicester (140) - Logistics *

HMNB Clyde His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...

(100) - Fleet Support and Defence Munitions *

HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the R ...

(220) - Fleet Support and Defence Munitions * DM Kineton (240) - Defence Munitions * DM Longtown (120) - Defence Munitions *

, London (90) - Policy *

RAF Northolt ("Ready to carry or to fight") , pushpin_map = Greater London , pushpin_label = RAF Northolt , pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Greater London , coordinates = , type = Royal Air Force station , code = , site_area = , height = , owner ...

(210) - British Forces Post Office *

HMNB Portsmouth His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is lo ...

and DM Gosport (350) - Fleet Support and Defence Munitions *

Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation in the 1990s it was ...

(120) - Fleet Support and Defence Munitions * RAF Waddington (170) - ISTAR Support *

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...

(410) - Helicopter Support Responsibility for 'Logistics, Commodities and Services' (including storage and delivery of non-weaponry equipment, such as food and clothing, to soldiers) was contracted out to the private sector in 2015 under an arrangement that included the transfer of 1,100 staff and construction of a new 'Defence Fulfilment Centre' at MoD Donnington.

References

Attribution

This article contains text from this source: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/526950/DES_Corporate_Plan_201619-20160526.pdf. © Crown copyright, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0

External links

Defence Equipment Support HomeDefence Equipment Support at Gov.ukDefence Equipment Support Organisation Structure
{{Authority control Defence agencies of the United Kingdom Military logistics of the United Kingdom Government agencies established in 2007 Military acquisition 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom