- Five major defence companies to war-game with the Ministry of
Defence to test how UK supply chains would hold up
under the pressures of a sustained conflict.
- The findings will directly shape defence policy, ensuring the
UK's Armed Forces have the equipment and supplies they need, when
they need them.
- Record £270 billion investment in UK defence over this
parliament is strengthening supply chains, creating
skilled jobs and making defence an engine for growth
across the country.
A major wargame with leading defence companies this week will
test how supply chains would perform under the pressure of
sustained, large-scale conflict.
The exercise is bringing together five major defence companies -
Boeing, KNDS, MBDA, Rheinmetall and Tekever - alongside
senior Ministry of Defence (MOD) leaders.
Participants will work through a scenario requiring a surge in
demand for key equipment to be maintained over an
extended period, examining where constraints
may emerge and what actions government and industry can
take to minimise risk.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, MP, said:
"Defence needs to be able to move fast to respond to an
increasingly unpredictable and dangerous world. This means not
just having the right capabilities, but ensuring our supply
chains are resilient, responsive and able to sustain
operations over time. Activities like this wargame are essential
to strengthening that readiness."
The MOD-industry exercise builds on a previous wargame
held in December 2024, which stress tested ammunition and
equipment supplies within a war time scenario. Findings from the
exercise will inform ongoing policy and legislative development,
including work to improve defence readiness set out in both the
Strategic Defence Review and the Defence Industrial
Strategy.
The Defence Industrial Strategy set
out how significant investment will build a
more resilient and responsive defence supply chain. The
Strategy prioritises strengthening domestic supply chains in
critical areas, diversifying the supplier base and
ensuring smaller, innovative companies can play a greater role in
equipping our Armed Forces.
The Strategic Defence Review set out the UK's commitment to
building sovereign industrial capability at pace, and this
wargame is part of that effort — ensuring that plans to surge
supply in a crisis can be tested, refined and delivered
in practice.
The work is backed by the largest sustained increase in spending
since the end of the Cold War - rising to 2.6% of GDP from
2027.
