PART I: HOW DID BRITAIN’S DEFENCE PROCUREMENT GET INTO THIS MESS? 1. Military Power, Weapons Procurement and Britain’s Standing in the World 2. British Defence Procurement in an ‘Age of Uncertainty’ PART II: THE CASE STUDIES – THE ROYAL NAVY AND THE MARITIME DOMAIN 3. The Procurement Challenge Across all Services and Domains 4. Developing the Type-45 destroyer 5. Carrier Strike and the Future Carrier-Borne Aircraft 6. The Astute-class Hunter-Killer submarine PART III: THE CASE STUDIES – THE ROYAL AIR FORCE AND THE AIR DOMAIN 7. The Joint Strike Fighter 8. The Eurofighter/Typhoon and BVRAAM: A Legacy of the Cold War? 9. The Failure of the Nimrod MRA4 10. The Watchkeeper and UK Airborne Early Warning: from E-3D Sentry to E-7A Wedgetail 11. Air Mobility and the ‘Virtual Reality’ Planes: The A400M and FTSA PART IV: THE CASE STUDIES – THE BRITISH ARMY AND THE LAND DOMAIN 12. Army Procurement: Boots, the SA80 and Bowman 13. Ajax and the Decline of Britain’s Armoured Vehicle Fleet PART V: WHAT WENT WRONG? 14. The MoD, the Treasury and Funding Defence Procurement 15. New Burdens on the UK Procurement Budget 16. Reforming Structure and Personnel at the DE&S 17. Tackling Some Obstacles to Better Procurement 18. Culture Change and the Critical Role of Leadership PART VI: CONCLUSION 19. Where Does All This Take Us? 20. British Defence Procurement into the Future Appendix 1: Secretaries of State for Defence since 1964 Appendix 2: Chiefs of Defence Procurement since 1971
Biography
Robert Self devoted most of his research effort during his academic career to the study of interwar British politics and he has authored or edited ten books on related subjects including a major biography of Neville Chamberlain and a volume on the Inter-Allied war debt controversy between 1917 and 1941. Since his retirement as professor of British politics and contemporary history, he has turned his attention to the study of recent British foreign and defence policy, including most recently his Making British Defence Policy: Continuity and Change. This is his third book published on this subject area.
'With this book Bob Self confirms his place as the leading scholar on the history of UK Defence Policy: who made it, why it was made the way it was, what the implications of that defence policy was for the UK national security status. His reach extends from the mid-Twentieth Century and now up to current day. If anyone wants to understand why UK procurement looks as it does, why UK defence has arrived at that state it is, and what the fundamental political principles driving that journey were then they must read this book, along with Self's previous work.'
Greg Kennedy, Professor of Strategic Foreign Policy, King's College London, UK
'A Study in Failure provides an important and timely monograph. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the United Kingdom’s problems in acquiring major defense, programmed in terms of cost, delivery times, and performance. It comprehensively explains the predicament of defence procurement and cogently advocates for its urgent need to be reformed.'
Matthew Uttley, Chair in Defence Studies, King’s College London, UK
‘This book could hardly be more timely. The international landscape has completely changed since 1997, new threats have emerged or re-emerged and a slow process of rearmament in consequence has begun. As that happens, it is imperative that policymakers learn from the assessment and procurement failures so expertly analysed here by Bob Self.’
Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy, University of Westminster, UK
