The Defence Committee has launched its Sub-Committee on Foreign
Involvement in the Defence Supply Chain, led by .
The Sub-Committee’s inquiry will scrutinise the vulnerabilities
of the UK’s defence supply chain following the Covid-19 pandemic,
with a particular focus on the impact on SMEs and mid-sized
companies. The Committee will assess the current level of foreign
ownership, particularly ownership by companies with links to
states which could have “ulterior motives”. Additionally, the
Committee will explore the current and planned regulatory regime
for government intervention to prevent foreign ownership of
defence, or defence-related, companies. This inquiry will examine
the proposed National Security Investment Bill, due to be debated
in Parliament later this year.
Chair of the Sub-Committee on Foreign Involvement in the
Defence Supply Chain, ,
said:
“The global economy is more interconnected than ever, and the
defence supply chain is no exception to this rule.
“Our Armed Forces, and the wider population, rely on equipment
and technology manufactured overseas and by foreign-owned
companies within the UK. Through this reliance on international
companies, we forfeit a degree of control, and must ask ourselves
whether we are inadvertently allowing foreign actors access, or
leverage, that compromises our national security.
“It is no secret that state actors are employing increasingly
creative and covert methods to gain intelligence and to exert
influence.
“Covid-19 has exacerbated vulnerabilities in the defence supply
chain. In the wake of the pandemic, many small and medium-sized
companies are struggling to stay afloat, and a foreign buy out
may be the only available lifeline.
“This inquiry will scrutinise the kinks in the defence supply
chain, attempt to understand its frailties, as well as where
there may be heightened exposure to manipulation by states with
ulterior motives.”
