General Sir Patrick Sanders DSEI 2023 Keynote Speech

Well, good afternoon, and thank you, Neil, for that introduction, and I’m delighted to see all of you here at DSEI 2023.

This is the biggest DSEI in history with 40,000 people visiting and 1,500 exhibitors during the week.

And of course, it’s the first since the invasion of Ukraine, and I’m particularly pleased to welcome the delegation from Ukraine. Your time is especially precious, and I truly appreciate you joining us and what a fitting use of our time.

So today I’ll outline our plan for the renewal of the British Army. A renewal guided by a new land operating concept, and underpin crucially by a closer relationship with allies, partners and industry.

Together, we’ll seize the opportunity presented by the defence Equipment Plan, which gives the Army £41 billion pounds over 10 years.

Our job is to responsibly commit this money and demonstrate a return on that investment to generate credible warfighting capability and to contribute to an increasingly vibrant industrial base skills and exports. We’ve got a tested and robust plan and we’re ready to implement it.

A DSEI two years ago, in 2021, my predecessor suggested that rather than thinking of ourselves as we’ve tended to do as a post war generation, we should contemplate what it might feel like to be a 21st century, pre-war generation. As events show we are now that pre-war generation, and it comes with a responsibility that we cannot show.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s Russia is increasingly isolated, and the world is tiring of its disinformation narrative. The war has showcased Ukrainian defiance, NATO unity, and provided the most potent accelerant to the changes that were already evident in 2021.

We recognise this moment at the British Army, and we mobilised with a clear purpose to protect the nation by being ready to fight and win wars on land.

As I outlined at RUSI in June, the Army’s mobilisation is broad and deep, driven by a pretty pitiless reflection on our own situation. So we mobilised our conceptual thinking, our equipment, our training, our productivity, and we reaffirm that land matters less there is any doubt. And we mobilised our partnership with you, industry, and I’ll return to that later.

Together, we’re providing battle winning equipment, and support to the Ukrainians. But there’s no room for complacency or self-congratulation. The hard-fought Ukrainian counter offensive continues. And we’ve got to ensure that their bravery, their sacrifice, and their skill are matched by our collective commitments.

But with around a third of Russian government spending, now flowing to defence they’re clearly in for the long haul. And we have to be ready for what may follow.

Like many other nations, and defence industries, we’ve studied the war carefully identifying valuable lessons, which is shaping our decisions about the future.

At RUSI, I trailed our initial response to these lessons, and we’ve forged a credible plan for the British Army’s renewal. Renewal to make sure that we can fight the war we may have to fight. A renewal, founded in hard won lessons of the past, orientated to the future, to ensure that we emerge, more lethal, more agile, expeditionary, and resilient, all underpinned by our digital framework. And this renewal is delivering now and gathering momentum.

So first, we’ve renewed our thinking. The land operating concepts, is providing the Capstone conceptual benchmark for the British Army, a single battle winning approach that anchors our design and capability decisions with a modular and adjustable framework.

Endorsed by defence, widespread peer review and tested through 55 days of Wargaming. It is the most robust evidence to inclusive piece of conceptual thinking that the Army has produced in over three decades. This place is the British Army at the intellectual edge of land warfare, able to lead in NATO and support our sister services across all domains.

And in the immediate term, recognising the risks of Russian recapitalisation, and further aggression. The Field Army has developed a robust, practical answer to the challenge of how will we fight in 2026 with the Army that we have now. And this will lead to a series of adjustments in how the Field Army has configured, connected, manoeuvres and trains through the course from now through to 2026.

Second, we’re renewing our training. Modern Warfare demands the renewal of leadership training, but also the creation of digital training and the recognition that new capabilities require new skills.

We’re responding to the operating environment that we see in Ukraine.

So for example, I’m struck by the fact that in the evolving Ukrainian drone campaign, 40% of losses are attributable to pilot error. When the electromagnetic spectrum is so heavily contested, and automation fails, to skill of the pilots predominance. So we need warfighters whether they’re cyber specialists, drone pilots, or infantry soldiers to be stronger, faster, more intelligent and more resilient.

So marking the most significant step in professionalising military leadership since the Royal Military College was founded in 1801. We’re implementing the British Army soldier Academy this year, and the British Army NCO academy next year, to maximise the potential of every soldier and equip our NCOs with the skills they need to meet the demands of the modern battlefield.

And if you want a marker for our commitment, look no further than our record on apprenticeships. The British Army has retained the number one employer spot for apprentices nationally for an unprecedented third year in a row with approximately 15,000 soldiers on program at any time around the globe, delivering over 38 Different apprenticeships in 10 or 15 trade sectors.

We’re investing in our people and perhaps your future employees because it’s not armies that win war, nations do and it’s our combined strength that provides the UK’s deterrence.

We’re also renewing our approach to people.

The Etherton and Haythornthwaite reviews hold us to account, helping us progress the high standards expected of the nation’s army and ensuring that we attract, recruit, and retain the very best of society.

Our approach under Op TEAMWORK is in its third year and at the end of this month, we’re launching a transformational five-year programme. It’s clear from that that our people want more.

Op TEAMWORK work revealed that over 75% of those surveyed welcomed the opportunity to address issues that matter to them, including a shift in focus from inappropriate behaviours, to one of professionalism. We’re encouraging challenge, ownership of actions, continual learning and inclusiveness to ensure our teams have the diversity of thought to innovate and win on the modern battlefield.

And we’re renewing our structure.

To guided by the land operating concepts. We’re adapting our form to follow function and our structural adaptation is ruthlessly aligned to our purpose being ready to fight and win wars on land.

The first UK division will take 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team under commands now and from 2024 will provide the Land Component Command of a joint and multi domain sovereign Global Response Force and agile tool of foreign policy to deliver rapid global effects and be first to the fight. This is a return to fielding a second battle winning divisional headquarters

We’ve enhanced the third UK division to warfight under the Allied Rapid Reaction call, the UK’s NATO corps. And we’ll refine the arc to deliver a core level strategic response force by 2024. Under the NATO force model, optimised for NATO is deep battle.

This will be underpinned by our Special Operations Forces offered to NATO for the first time and the Army Reserve that the nation needs for warfighting and Homeland Defense. So by restructuring the 6th UK divisions elements into the field army, we can elevate land Special Operations and specialist capabilities including Information Operations outputs to component level, and this enables smarter task organisation, the power of combinations and exploits the field armies broad connectivity and access to multi domain capabilities.

I spoke a few minutes ago about the significance of UAS – unmanned aerial systems – in Ukraine, and by the end of this year will form a new UAS group within a reorientated Joint Aviation Command. This expanded JAC remit will bring deep, deep expertise and the coherence that the new defence uncrewed strategy requires and it’ll provide a focal point the industry, around which we intend to develop the next generation of UAS platforms in even closer partnership.

And finally, we’re doubling our cyber and electronic warfare signals intelligence workforce, feeding hundreds into the National Cyber force. We already deliver Europe’s largest global cyber exercise. That’s exercise CYBER MARVEL, and with an investment of £1.3 billion pounds into a full range of world leading mounted EW, SIGINT, cyber and ECM capability, we’re accelerating the army towards data centricity, and digital transformation.

And while warfighting must be our focus, and the NATO Euro Atlantic Theatre, our geographic priority, the Army has a globally deployed footprint and it will remain an agile and adaptable tool of foreign policy.

So the Army already provides the UK’s largest permanent presence in the Indo-Pacific region through the Brunei Joint Task Force, deploying 11 teams to 11 partner countries in the region, demonstrating the UK’s commitment and helping partner nations become more resilient and capable.

And we’ll also maximise the impact of our existing network throughout Africa and the Middle East, developing strategic partnerships that serve both to protect the nation but also to help it prosper through export partnerships.

And we renewed our approach to data.

So data is our second most valuable asset behind our people. The Army’s approach to data will define our ability to adopt artificial intelligence and pace and scale for whole force benefit in a human centric, trusted and responsible manner.

The Army AI centre is already-in-being, and there are over 25 projects underway across just the army with more starting each week. Just last month, the Zodiac project program prototype concept contract was awarded – enabling us to cut the sensor-to-effector loop by previously unimaginable timelines, with AI fuelling that game changing capability.

The Army has the biggest software software house and data analytics platform in Defence, and it is relentlessly tackling issues of data quality, consistency, and labelling. Another team just delivered the ability to print validated data sets and validate 3rd party models against ones that we have trained ourselves, sort of like a golden key that enable us to know truth in a world where adversaries are making that harder to find.

So these are just some of the steps that we’re taking to drive the British Army towards becoming a software defined and a data centric force.

And without data, of course, there can be no AI. We can’t achieve this alone. And so we’re engaging broadly to work collaboratively to solve collaboratively to solve problems. No one in this hall here today is going to win Army AI. On the contrary, we’re going to seek out every opportunity to develop an ecosystem of companies and partners who can move with us towards greater capability for the Army.

And we’re renewing our relationship with industry and equipment.

So this is in some senses a “Back to the Future” moment. It reminds us the fragmented procurement processes associated with the 9/11 Wars were not a sustainable approach. Our job is to grow credible warfighting capability, yes, but off the back of a vibrant industrial base, skills and exports.

So as CGS, I visited more industrial partners than I have Field Army units and my international visits have been ruthlessly and single mindedly focused on seeking opportunities for industrial collaboration and joint capability development with key strategic partner nations.

And we’ve got a good story to tell on modernisation. Ajax here in the hall today is proving to be one of the most advanced families of AFVs in the world. It’s in the hands of our soldiers now. Trials are progressing well. And the soldiers tell me that they are blown away by its capabilities. It’s been described to me as like an AH-64E on tracks. Boasting a truly revolutionary ISTAR suite capable of fusing optical, thermal and acoustic feeds into a single display.

It stabilised 40mm cannon provides exceptional lethality and it won’t stand still, the spiral development should see it having frequent upgrades will more than double our medium range air defence capability by 2027, as well as entering a significant bilateral agreement with Poland, worth £1.9 billion to the UK so far.

And UK boxer is poised to set the new standard for armoured vehicles worldwide, as we add 350 vehicles to our fleet over the next five years. Its agility, protection and rapid modular adaptability provide truly formidable capability and we think makes it a world class solution for international partners seeking cutting edge armoured vehicles.

And finally, we’ll have fielded all 50 AH-64E by the end of next year, and we’ll see the first challenger three prototypes this year. So for international partners, and fellow chiefs, let me assure you that this isn’t a protectionist by British approach. We’re stronger together and industrial collaboration is about an enduring relationship for mutual benefit.

As we outlined at the earlier plenary on the land industrial strategy, we’ve got to ensure that our allies and partners have access to the world leading defense suppliers that we have based in the UK.

It’s about achieving greater interoperability, through the commonality of equipment and shared costs of upgrades and R&D for the next generation of capabilities. I can assure you that we’re taking a very muscular look at the security of our supply chains, working closely with NATO to ensure that we’re tackling logistic challenges through the Alliance rather than solely sovereignly.

In collaboration with the Department for Business and Trade we have established a Land Capability Campaigns Office and Army Industry and Exports Office that work closely with industry to put more muscle behind our efforts to increase our user clubs through land export sales.

Our strategy positions the UK as a global hub for cutting-edge land systems, capable of designing, delivering, and supporting capabilities for generations to come. I encourage you to engage with the Head of UK Business Development, Mr. Simon Levy, and take a good look around the Land Zone, it won’t disappoint.

We are a 21st century reward generation. This is our responsibility. And for the British Army, It demands renewal to assure enduring excellence. This isn’t a proposal or a rallying cry. There’s no time for that. This renewal must flourish over the next 45 years lasting well beyond my successor’s successor.

The renewal doesn’t need new money. Indeed, it would be irresponsible to seek it given the financial climate. What this renewal does need is your partnership and commitment to the most ambitious program of modernisation in my lifetime.

So together, we can renew both the British Army and our nation’s land industrial base.

Thank you.