Defence Acquisition And Procurement

The acquisition and procurement of major weapons systems is fraught with difficulties. They tend to be delivered late, over budget and unable to meet requirements. This Element provides an economic analysis of why this happens. Market structure, demand by the military and supply by the arms firms, shapes the conduct of the agents and generates the poor performance observed. The military are trying to counter an evolving threat, subject to a budget constraint, high R&D costs and new technologies. The interaction between a government made up of warring tribes and arms firms with considerable market and political power is further complicated by a set of what economists call 'principal-agent' problems, which are examined. While the poor performance has prompted many countries to propose reforms, the difficulty of the task and the institutional incentives faced by the actors mean that the reforms rarely solve the problem.

Military and defense organizations are a vital component to any nation. In order to maintain the standards of these sectors, new procedures and practices must be implemented. Emerging Strategies in Defense Acquisitions and Military Procurement is a pivotal reference source for the latest scholarly research on the present state of defense organizations, examining reforms and solutions necessary to overcome current limitations and make vast improvements to their infrastructure. Highlighting methodologies and theoretical foundations that promote more effective practices in defense acquisition, this book is ideally designed for academicians, practitioners, researchers, upper-level students, and professionals engaged in defense industries.

This open access book compares the experiences of large-scale military procurement in Canada and Australia. Focusing on the recent frigate and jet-fighter programmes, it demonstrates how delays suffered in delivering weapons systems and platforms in these countries have been caused by misalignments between the strategic requirements set out by the armed forces and government defence policies. By bringing the insights of public management and administration to those of defence studies, the book presents policy options that will help improve the nature of future large-project military procurement. It will appeal to scholars and students of public administration, public management, and defence studies, as well as practitioners and policymakers.

In 1993, Canada’s Liberal Party cancelled an order to replace the navy’s Sea King helicopter. It claimed that the Tory plan was too expensive, but the cancellation itself actually cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Aaron Plamondon connects this incident to the larger evolution of defence procurement in Canada, revealing that partisan politics, rather than a desire to increase the military’s capabilities, have driven the military procurement process. This saga of the government playing havoc with weapons acquisition offers an explanation for, and clues for resolving, the under-equipped state of Canada’s military.

Defence procurement remains a relatively under-researched area, mostly focusing on the USA. This revealing book looks at defence procurement from the point of view of smaller countries such as Israel, Australia, Poland and Spain.

A history of failed attempts to replace the Sea King maritime helicopter reveals the political nature and shortcomings of the Canadian defence procurement process.

The aim of defence procurement and production is to ensure quality, timeliness and value for money in provision of defence equipement to the armed forces. Recently new system and broad structures have been announced. However, the operating procedures have not been defined, these would necessarily to be set out and modernized.

Defence procurement in Canada is a mess, with hundreds of millions of dollars being routinely wasted, despite which the Canadian Armed Forces is woefully underequipped and lacking crucial capacity. Charlie Foxtrot shows why past governments failed so spectacularly to efficiently equip and manage the CAF, and how to change that.