Defence Equipment & Support

Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is the name of the merged procurement and support organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence. It came into being on 2 April 2007, bringing together the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics Organisation under the leadership of General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue as the first Chief of Defence Materiel.

The new organisation has a civilian and military workforce of around 29,000 (77 per cent civilian and 23 per cent military), in the UK and abroad. DE&S operates as a single Top Level Budget.

Mission

The DE&S mission is::"To equip and support our armed forces for operations now and in the future."

History

Defence Equipment and Support was established on 2 April, 2007.

DE&S is overseen by the Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support, in which role the first Min(DES), Lord Drayson was succeeded by Baroness Taylor, on 7 November 2007. [ [http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page13715.asp Lord Drayson to take Leave of Absence] ] [ [http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page13713.asp Baroness Taylor appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State] ]

Major projects

DE&S manages a variety of defence procurement and support projects inherited from the DLO and DPA. Examples of current and future procurement projects include:

Vessels

*Type 45 destroyer class.
*Astute submarine class.
*Albion landing platform dock class.
*Bay landing ship dock class.
*Future Aircraft Carrier class.
*Future Surface Combatant warship class.
*Vanguard submarine class.

Aircraft

*Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft.
*F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fighter aircraft.
*Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft.
*A400M transport aircraft.
*C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft.
*Raytheon Sentinel Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR).
*Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA)/Airbus A330 MRTT aerial refueling tanker.
*Apache MkI attack helicopter.
*Merlin HC3 support and Merlin HM1 anti-submarine warfare helicopters.
*Hawk 128 advanced jet trainer.
*Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.
*Future Offensive Air System.

Vehicles

*Future Rapid Effect System medium weight vehicle family.
*Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle.
*Viking armoured personnel carrier.

Munitions

*AIM-132 ASRAAM (air-to-air missile).
*Meteor air-to-air missile.
*Storm Shadow cruise missile.
*Brimstone air-launched anti-tank guided missile.
*FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile.
*Main Battle Tank and Light Armour Weapon (MBT LAW) anti-tank missile.

Other

* Information Systems & Services
*Future Integrated Soldier Technology modular infantry equipment system.
*Bowman (communications system)Bowman tactical communications system.
*Skynet 5 strategic communications satellite system.

ee also

*Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
*Defence Logistics Organisation
*Defence Procurement Agency
*Royal Air Force
*Royal Navy
*British Army

External links

* [http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/MicroSite/DES/ DE&S]
* [http://www.mod.uk/ Ministry of Defence]
* [http://www.mod.uk/defenceinternet/home MOD Home page]
* [http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1DE4056D-12F5-462E-AC5C-6E52AED1E2A3/0/previewoct06.pdf New organisation structure unveiled]

References