Production of BAE Systems Hawk and Typhoons will soon come to an end unless new orders are gained. © BAE Systems
UK Defence Aerospace Industry on Hold By David Oliver
During the Queen’s Speech on 19 December 2019, the UK Government announced plans to conduct an Integrated Security, Defence and Foreign Policy Review. Heralded as the most radical reassessment of the UK’s place in the world since the end of the Cold War, the review promised to cover all aspects of international policy from defence to diplomacy and development. In the first phase of this inquiry, the Defence Committee was exploring how Government should conduct this exercise and looking to identify lessons learned from the timing, methodology and structure of previous UK’s security and defence reviews. The Committee would then use the findings of this inquiry as a framework to collect evidence on the future of UK defence in Phase II of the inquiry. However, the review has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the Integrated Review was due to be completed later this year but it is now not expected to start until 2021. Another casualty of pandemic was the UK aerospace industries’ shopwindow, as the 2020 Farnborough International Airshow was cancelled leaving a gap that will take some considerable time to fill.
EDR | September/October 2020
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