Smart Defence – Smarter Defence Industries

How will Europe provide for its security in the future? The challenges we face are changing and becoming more complex, requiring investment in new technologies – in cyber security for example. But defence spending has been declining, with austerity cuts in budgets across the continent. This year, for the first time, Asia will spend more on defence than Europe. And, despite the ambition to share the burden of defence spending more evenly in NATO, the US is actually carrying a larger share of NATO defence spending now – nearly three quarters – than in 2001 when its share was 63%.

NATO’s answer to this challenge is ‘Smart Defence’. We need to make the most of our most important asset – our solidarity as Allies. It enables us to combine forces, and combine capabilities, to get the most out of the resources we spend on defence by teaming up with partners from countries within the Alliance. We need to prioritise, to specialise and to cooperate in meeting the security requirements of the future. The days when a country could rely on its own national defence industry to supply all its security needs are long gone.

That’s why fifteen British defence companies have been visiting Romanian this week to get alongside their Romanian counterparts and explore the scope for partnerships, whether in meeting the needs of customers in the UK or Romania, or in third countries. The UK has a great experience of working with Romania’s defence industry. The RAF placed one of its largest contracts with the Eurocopter plant at Ghimbav, and the plant is doing a brilliant job in upgrading our Puma helicopters for the security operations of the future. The workshops we held at the Circul Militar over the last two days have involved British companies large and small in discussion with their Romanian counterparts. I’ve been particularly encouraged to see SMEs engaged in the conversation, as they are often the ones that are meeting niche requirements, boosting competitiveness and are especially creative in finding new solutions to the new security challenges we face.

In 2016 the UK and Romania will mark 100 years since we concluded the first military alliance between our two countries. I hope we will do so by demonstrating the enduring strength of our alliance as members of NATO and our ability to meet security challenges together in the future. Our respective armed forces already have a great record of operating together in different theatres, in NATO and EU operations. Now we need to develop joint operations by our defence industries as well, to provide the support they will need in new and complex environments. Smart defence needs smarter defence industries, in Romania and the UK. I hope the talks this week will see the creation of new partnerships between our companies, strengthening the strategic partnership between Romania and the UK.