La Industria de Defensa Británica.

Pese a los sucesivos recortes la industria de defensa británica se mantiene como un componente económico y militar relevante. De hecho es un componente importante de las exportaciones del RUG, y su volumen supera a los de Francia, Italia y Alemania combinados.

For U.K., Defense Remains Key Industry as Strategy Shifts   

By The Editors | 24 Feb 2012

The British government approved arms sales to Bahrain last year, despite ongoing unrest in the Persian Gulf state. In an email interview, John Louth, deputy head of the defense industries and society program at the Royal United Services Institute, discussed the U.K. defense industry.

WPR: What is the current size and scope of the British defense industry, and how has it evolved in the past decade?

John Louth: The U.K. defense market represents between about 1 percent and 2 percent of U.K. GDP annually, with the government spending about $28 billion each year on defense equipment and services from the industrial base. In addition, the industry exports about $19 billion worth of defense and security equipment and services per annum. Funds are also spent on research and development and specialist components from niche supply chains, but these values are harder to quantify.

The U.K. defense industry remains an important component of the overall British economy. BAE Systems is the largest defense business registered in the U.K., with 40,000 domestic employees and another 45,000 worldwide, principally in the U.S. It is the U.K.'s largest manufacturer by order book and Europe's largest employer of engineers. Its fortunes drive the broader U.K. defense and security effort. Also, the U.K. has more small and medium-sized enterprises in the defense and security space than France, Germany and Italy combined.

The U.K. remains the world’s fourth-largest defense power and, despite well-documented fiscal and budgetary constraints, continues to demonstrate its willingness to be a global security player. However, its industry is evolving from one based on manufacturing to a richer tableau of service provision, through life-maintenance contracts and training, as well as the provision of defense equipment itself. The impact of this trend on indigenous capabilities remains to be seen.

WPR: Who are the main buyers of British arms, and in which categories of arms?

Louth: The U.K. government remains the largest customer for British military equipment, but sales are of course also made abroad, principally to the U.S. and other allies. Saudi Arabia remains a strategic market for BAE Systems and others, as well as other Gulf states and India. The importance of the maritime market in Australia is also growing. Many countries now, though, wish to develop and deploy equipment in tandem with their allies. It is more helpful to think of partners rather than exporters and customers. Even countries that buy equipment packages from the U.K. probably want to maintain those packages in their own countries using, in part, the national workforce. Consequently, there is much more collaboration between customer and supplier -- a trend that will continue.

WPR: How do defense exports impact the U.K.'s broader foreign policy, and vice versa (in terms of technology transfers, for instance)?

Louth: In a traditional sense, non-U.K. governments that become customers of U.K. defense manufacturers buy more than just equipment. They form, or enhance, a relationship with the U.K. government itself, which grants the export license, and engage with the British notions of defense doctrine and capability for which the equipment was originally developed. The U.K., however, wishes to maintain or construct a technological advantage over many other states, so technology transfers, for example, remain more than just intellectual-property issues. However, the U.K. White Paper of February 2012 on defense technology and support made the case for defense exports being both a security and economic imperative. How this is to be properly operationalized remains to be seen.