DE & S
Roger West , Logistics and Support Director at Defence , Equipment & Support at the UK Ministry of Defence , on delivering the force behind the Armed Forces
Describing itself as the force behind the Armed Forces in the UK , Defence Equipment & Support ( DE & S ) is responsible for sourcing and delivering equipment through life support services for the Royal Navy , the Army , and the Royal Air Force . That ’ s everything from boots on feet to helicopters on aircraft carriers and tracks on tanks . It ’ s a £ 10bn ( US $ 12bn ) a year operation handled by a combination of military personnel , civil servants and contractors , and a highly specialised part of the Ministry of Defence ( MOD ).
Supporting military activity and procuring everything from food to fighter jets is a logistical challenge at the best of times – made monumental during times of war in Europe .
Roger West is the Logistics and Support Director at DE & S and even though he has 40 years of experience to draw on , it ’ s fair to say these are unprecedented times – when supply chain resilience is paramount .
“ It ' s absolutely fundamental that we have resilience in our supply chain ,” says West . “ We ' ve been tested in recent years by COVID-19 , by Evergiven , and now in the support of Ukraine . We are giving considerable thought to how we need to re-calibrate our supply chains to give us the resilience that we need , because we can ' t afford to go out half-cocked into a demanding environment where people ' s lives are at risk .”
96 November 2022