While adversaries field capabilities at pace, the UK’s Defence ecosystem still wrestles with complexity, fragmentation, and risk aversion. In order to retain battlefield advantage, acquisition models must evolve — not just within MOD, but across the whole supplier ecosystem. What happens when Urgent Capability Requirements are not delivered with urgency? Will the Strategic Defence Review enable a different approach quickly enough?

This panel will explore how Defence needs to break away from procedural bottlenecks and legacy procurement models to enable faster, more responsive delivery of operational capability. What does genuine agility look like in an environment still governed by multi-year budget cycles and cautious assurance processes?

How do we get capability from contract to combat faster, without compromising resilience or trust? The panel will explore perspectives on moving from Bottlenecks to Battlefield:

• Accelerating procurement while maintaining accountability
• Creating trusted, secure supply chains at pace
• Building a more integrated, collaborative industrial ecosystem
• Removing friction from innovation-to-fielding pathways