This chapter sets the study context and provides an overview of the purpose and scope of the RAND research.

In December 2005, the United Kingdom (UK) Ministry of Defence (MOD) published the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS), which presented its strategic view of the on-shore industrial base. In particular, the DIS sought to “promote a sustainable industrial base that retains in the UK those industrial capabilities needed to ensure national security”. The DIS identified the key industrial sectors that are critical in contributing to the UK’s military capability: one of these key sectors was the military fixed wing industry.

Subsequently, in...

This chapter outlines the methodology that was developed and used to address the objectives of the study. It also summarises the sources of data used during our research.

A range of research methods were employed to meet the study objectives. Qualitative information was obtained through semi-structured interviews with the following:

the MOD’s key suppliers in the fixed wing and related sectors;

industry representative groups;

relevant stakeholders in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; and

key personnel within the Defence Equipment and Support organisation.

Quantitative and qualitative information from 12 firms was obtained through an industrial survey.

We modelled future...

This chapter sets out the framework within which we collected the information that was necessary to address the research objectives. It describes the technical competences needed to design, develop, manufacture and sustain military fixed wing aircraft. We used these technical competences as the basis of the industrial survey. The chapter also outlines aircraft domains, life cycle phases of military fixed wing aircraft and skill families.

Our first step involved developing a set of competences that included essential aerospace activities (including air platform, powerplant, systems, etc.) across military aircraft domains and life cycle phases. We included only the competences that depend...

This chapter analyses the results of our survey of the workforce and skills currently employed in the military fixed wing industry. The chapter also includes a summary of survey results relating to recruiting, developing and managing personnel. The survey results address the first objective of the study in terms of determining the current ‘health’ of the military fixed wing industrial base. (While this chapter touches on demand for skills, an analysis of critical skills is presented in Chapter 5.)

The design, manufacture and maintenance of the MOD’s fixed wing fleet requires a skilled and experienced industrial workforce. Skills sustainment and...

In this chapter we identify critical military fixed wing competences that are sustained primarily through the MOD programme. The chapter also highlights a number of highly-specialised skills that, while they are present only in very low numbers, nonetheless are crucially important. The findings presented in this chapter were used as the basis for the assessment of future skills sustainment (which is presented in Chapter 7).

The military fixed wing industrial base has some synergies with the broader defence and civil aerospace sectors in terms of the competences required and technology areas employed. However, there are other competences and technologies whose...

This chapter discusses possible future demand on the UK military fixed wing industrial base over the 2010–2035 time period. Our assessment was based on a demand model that utilised information gathered from the survey, combined with the illustrative scenarios provided by the MOD. Demand was considered at a macro level across the military fixed wing sector. (In Chapter 7, we consider the sustainment of key skills identified in Chapter 5 against each demand scenario.)

As described in Chapter 3, the MOD provided RAND with four scenarios as a basis for exploring the impact of future MOD demand on the...

In this chapter, we assess the extent to which the key skills in the UK industrial base (identified in Chapter 5) are aligned with potential future workload implied by the MOD demand scenarios discussed in Chapter 6. The assessment considered the extent to which key industrial competences were sustained by the MOD scenarios, and was based on the output from the quantitative demand model allied to a set of assessment criteria that were developed using information gathered through the survey and interviews with industry stakeholders. (More detail on the approach is provided in Appendix C.)

The assessment provides a strategic...

This final chapter draws together conclusions from earlier chapters of the report and presents a set of key findings. It also provides several areas of further investigation that stand out, which the MOD may wish to consider.

The implications of these findings are focused on the MOD, but will be of interest to the wider military fixed wing enterprise. Addressing the implied challenges is likely to require cooperation and collaboration between the MOD and its key suppliers.

In 2009, the military fixed wing industrial sector was relatively healthy in terms of experience, age profile and coverage across relevant competences.Overall,...