Defence Equipment and Support

Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is a trading entity and joint-defence organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence. It began operating on 2 April 2007, following the merger of the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics Organisation, under the Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support.

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. By 2022, the DE&S workforce had reduced to around 11,500 with the majority based at MoD Abbey Wood in Bristol.

Defence Equipment and Support was established on 2 April 2007. It is overseen by the Minister of State for Defence Procurement. The organisation supports Strategic Command and the individual armed services through Navy Command, Army Headquarters and Headquarters Air Command.

Board members include:

Mark Russell was appointed Chairman in November 2019.

The board provides strategic governance for DE&S and a 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, 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.

Members of the executive committee include:

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.

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

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

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 that an ethos of support to operations is in place throughout all DE&S activity.

This group now is part of the Submarine Delivery Agency.

DE&S manages over 600 defence procurement and support programmes for the UK's armed services. Examples of current and future procurement projects include:

• Type 45 destroyer class
• Astute submarine class
• Albion landing platform dock class
• Bay landing ship dock class
• Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier class
• Type 26 frigate warship class
• Type 31 frigate class
• River-class patrol vessel
• Tide-class tanker
• Solid Support Ship
• Vanguard submarine class
• Dreadnought-class submarine – replacement class for the Vanguard class

• Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft
• F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fighter aircraft
• Airbus A400M transport aircraft
• C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft
• Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA)/Airbus A330 MRTT aerial refueling tanker
• Apache AH64E attack helicopter
• Merlin HC4 support and Merlin Mk2 anti-submarine warfare helicopters
• Hawk 128 advanced jet trainer
• Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
• Sentinel R1
• Beechcraft Shadow R1
• Airseeker
• Protector UAV
• Boeing P-8A Poseidon MRA Mk1

• Warrior
• Challenger 2 and Challenger 3
• Mastiff (MRAP) Protected Patrol Vehicle
• Ajax (Scout SV)
• Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle
• Jackal 2 & 3 and Coyote
• Viking armoured personnel carrier
• Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (Boxer)
• Multi Role Vehicle-Protected (MRV-P) (MRV-P)

• AIM-132 ASRAAM (air-to-air missile)
• Meteor air-to-air missile
• Storm Shadow cruise missile
• Brimstone air-launched anti-tank guided missile
• FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile
• NLAW (MBT LAW) anti-tank missile
• SPEAR, Selective Precision Effects At Range munitions; see, for example, SPEAR 3

• Future Integrated Soldier Technology modular infantry equipment system
• Bowman tactical communications system
• Skynet 5 strategic communications satellite system
• Light weapons, photography and batteries (LWPB)

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 (100) – Fleet Support and Defence Munitions
• HMNB Devonport (220) – Fleet Support and Defence Munitions
• DM Kineton (240) – Defence Munitions
• DM Longtown (120) – Defence Munitions
• Ministry of Defence, London (90) – Policy
• RAF Northolt (210) – British Forces Post Office
• HMNB Portsmouth and DM Gosport (350) – Fleet Support and Defence Munitions
• Rosyth Dockyard (120) – Fleet Support and Defence Munitions
• RAF Waddington (170) – ISTAR Support
• Yeovil (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.

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

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