Early industry engagement increasing speed of Middle East support

Key points

• The Defence Industrial Joint Council (DIJC) is a key forum for strategic engagement, enabling earlier collaboration and fast responses to urgent operational needs

• Early market engagement is providing clearer and insight into available capability, supporting quicker, better informed procurement decisions

• MOD Category Strategies are strengthening  access to critical materials, reducing supply chain delays, and aligning activity with industry through the DIJC Working Group.

Increasing the speed of support through early industry engagement

Meeting urgent operational demands in the Middle East relies on earlier, stronger engagement with industry. The Defence Industrial Joint Council (DIJC), alongside the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group’s newly formed Early Market Engagement team, is central to increasing the speed of support. This work supports the Defence Industrial Strategy commitment to provide clearer, earlier demand signals, ensuring suppliers are better positioned to respond to rapidly evolving requirements.

Through structured engagement, including Strategic Industry Roundtables, MOD has moved beyond traditional procurement approaches to earlier, more open conversations with suppliers. The approach engages industry before requirements are fully defined. By sharing clearer problem statements and operational context, Defence can better understand available capability, test feasibility, and shape delivery options at speed.

Nathan Hinchliffe, Head of Market Engagement, National Armaments Director Group, said:

Early and continuous engagement with industry allows us to adapt to rapidly evolving requirements, understand what is feasible, and speed up capability. By bringing industry into the conversation earlier and broadening participation, we are creating a more partnership-based approach that is already helping delivery happen faster and unlocking tangible results.

Better access and faster delivery

This approach is widening participation beyond established primes, bringing in Small and Medium -Sized Enterprises (SMEs), academia, and non-traditional suppliers based on capability. Insights gathered from these engagements are directly shaping delivery decisions, particularly in areas such as export processes and procurement routes. For example, industry feedback identified barriers in export approvals, prompting accelerated government-to-government mechanisms and closer coordination with the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU). As a result, 37 of 47 export licences have been expedited many significantly faster than standard timelines helping priority capabilities to reach partners more quickly.

The Middle East context has also highlighted existing structural pressures in the supply chain, including constraints in critical raw materials and long lead times for key components. In response, NAD is developing Category Strategies to improve access to constrained areas such as Sensors, Rocket Motors, and Energetics. This work improves understanding of assembly capacity and the drivers of long lead times, enabling joint identification of opportunities to compress delivery timelines. Activity is being coordinated across MOD and industry through the DIJC Readiness and Resilience Working Group, ensuring alignment and coherence.

Making this the standard approach

Together, these efforts represent a shift in how Defence works with industry, embedding early, continuous engagement as a core part of delivery. This demonstrates how Defence Reform and the Defence Industrial Strategy are being implemented in practice to improve pace, access, and outcomes for the frontline.

Lessons from Middle East support are now shaping a more sustainable, business-as-usual model, including the development of a Coordinating Authority for Market Engagement. By formalising this approach, MOD aims to create a repeatable and scalable framework that improves industry relationships, supports investment confidence, and ensures rapid and resilient delivery of capability to the warfighter.