Defence Equipment and 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 organisation had 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. As of 2008 the DE&S workforce was around 24,500, further reducing under the 'PACE' business improvement programme to around 20,000 by 2012. Of this, around 10,000 posts will be housed at Abbey Wood by 2012.

Mission statement
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 for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology.

Senior officials
The organisation is under the leadership of the Chief of Defence Materiel, a four-star officer: an Admiral, General, Air Chief Marshal or civilian. After the restructuring in 2011 there are four three-star posts under the Chief of Defence Materiel. These are the positions of Chief of Materiel (Fleet), a Royal Navy Vice Admiral, and Chief of Materiel (Land), a British Army Lieutenant General (who also holds the appointment of Quartermaster-General to the Forces), Chief of Materiel (Air), a Royal Air Force Air Marshal and Chief of Materiel (Joint Enablers).

Chief Operating Officer
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) was responsible for project and programme delivery across DE&S. This includes supporting the equipment through life, and the performance of the industrial supply chain. The post was discontinued 1 June 2011.

Chiefs of Materiel
The Chiefs of Materiel (CofMs) are responsible for managing key relationships with the Capability Sponsor and User. They work at the strategic level to make sure that the operational readiness and sustainability needs of the User are met.

The CofMs ensure an ethos of support to operations is in place to the User, throughout all DE&S activity.

Peter Worrall

Chief of Corporate Performance
The Chief of Corporate Performance (CCP) was responsible for managing the business effectively and setting policy in key corporate functional areas. The post was discontinued as at 1 June 2011.

Major projects
DE&S manages a variety of defence procurement and support projects inherited from the DLO and DPA for all three services. 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.
 * A400M transport aircraft.
 * C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft.
 * 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.
 * MQ-9 Reaper.

Vehicles

 * Mastiff Cougar (vehicle) Protected Patrol Vehicle.
 * 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 tactical communications system.
 * Skynet 5 strategic communications satellite system.