Summary

48.  Security and defence policy development work during the year focused primarily on two continuing themes: evolution of Europe's security arrangements through the complementary improvement of NATO and the EU's capabilities; and developing a multi-faceted response to emerging security challenges, particularly from international terrorism and the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Although there is much yet to achieve, the year saw significant developments for European security including agreement on the ways in which the EU will have access to NATO's resources, the invitation of seven more states to join NATO, and the launch of the first live EU military operation.

49.  The Department set out a comprehensive response to the emerging security challenges in 'A New Chapter to the Strategic Defence Review' in July 2002. The Spending Review 2002 settlement enabled further investment in 'network-enabled capability' to provide better-controlled, precise military effect when military action is required. We have continued to take forward work on missile defences, and to enhance the Armed Forces' ability to support the civil authorities in the UK. We continued to work with other Departments and through Defence Diplomacy to prevent and resolve conflict around the world, address the causes and symptoms of international terrorism, implement the Government's commitment to arms control, and prevent the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

NATO

50.  MOD and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), working closely together, made significant progress in strengthening European security. In 2002/03, decisions were taken by NATO to: invite Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to join the Alliance; improve NATO military capabilities; streamline NATO Command structures; create a NATO Response Force; and enhance NATO's relations with its partners. The Department and the FCO were at the forefront in developing these policy initiatives, in finding solutions acceptable to all, and in delivering consensus.

51.  Alliance operations continued in the Balkans, with the UK at the forefront: during the year an average of nearly 3,000 members of the UK Armed Forces were committed (although the commitment by the end of the year was considerably below that). At the Prague Summit in November 2002, NATO leaders made a commitment to transform the Alliance to meet the new threats and security challenges of the 21st century, including terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction, and to do so wherever they arise. This paved the way for NATO to take the lead role in the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul and provide support to Poland in Iraq.

52.  The seven invited nations signed Accession Protocols in March 2003 and effectively commenced the process of integration. The UK has played a leading role, through a targeted programme of Defence assistance (the 'Outreach' programme), in helping them to prepare for membership. The NATO-Russia Council (NRC), created in May 2002, provides a new and effective way of engaging with Russia at the political and military level. It is now working on such issues as terrorism, countering Weapons of Mass Destruction proliferation, civil emergencies, Defence reform, and improving military interoperability. The UK was active within the NRC throughout the year.

53.  The Prague Summit also saw the launch of the Prague Capabilities Commitment with Allies making political commitments to improve significantly their military capabilities. NATO approved the concept of the NATO Response Force, which in terms of speed of reaction will be a marked departure for NATO and on which progress was ahead of schedule. In June 2003, NATO Defence Ministers also approved a streamlined Command Structure. This will be more flexible and efficient, and better able to conduct post-Cold War military operations as well as provide the essential command underpinning for the NATO Response Force. The UK played a leading role in driving forward these changes, which were agreed very much in line with UK objectives.

European Defence

54.  Significant progress was made in the security and Defence dimensions of the EU. The UK continued to play a leading role in initiatives to improve European military capabilities and steady progress was made against the targets detailed in the European Capabilities Action Plan. A key milestone was achieved when the first EU crisis management exercise was held in May 2002, successfully practising and testing the EU's operational procedures.

55.  UK ideas were influential in the design of the new NATO/EU relationship, including NATO's support to the EU for military operations. This process came to fruition in late 2002 with agreement between NATO and the EU on 'Berlin Plus' to give the EU ready access to NATO's planning resources and other key assets. In March 2003 the two organisations completed the final negotiations on the detailed arrangements to underpin Alliance support for EU-led operations. After a EU police mission in Bosnia in January 2003, these were almost immediately put into operational use with the launch of the EU's Operation CONCORDIA in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, following on from NATO's successful Operation ALLIED HARMONY. In June 2003, the EU undertook its first Operation outside Europe, Operation ARTEMIS, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This Operation did not use NATO assets.

56.  In May 2003, the European Council concluded that the EU had an operational capability across the full range of Petersberg tasks, from peacekeeping to war-fighting. This was however limited and constrained by recognised shortfalls, which particularly affect speed of deployment and level of risk for larger, higher-intensity tasks. Work to address these continues. The challenging PSA target, which is also the agreed Headline Goal of EU capability, for the EU to be able to deploy forces of up to Corps level within sixty days and undertake the full range of Petersburg tasks by 2003, was therefore partly met.

57.  The Department also worked to shape the Defence-related proposals in the Convention on the Future of Europe. In particular, we proposed establishment of a new Agency focusing on European Defence capability development to help to embed the approach begun with the Headline Goal.

Conflict Prevention

58.  The cross-Whitehall initiative for conflict prevention continued to expand its geographical scope and develop its range of activities. During 2002/03 the Department worked to support conflict prevention initiatives across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Central America and Asia as well as undertaking wider-ranging conflict prevention work under the Defence Diplomacy programme.

59.  The Defence Advisory Team was heavily engaged providing security sector and Defence reform advice and assistance to Afghanistan, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Serbia and Montenegro, Ghana and Uzbekistan. UK military training teams worked to enhance the ability of African nations to conduct peace support operations, in line with the G8 commitment announced at the Kananaskis summit in June 2002. As well as undertaking activities to promote good governance and democratic accountability of Armed Forces around the world, the Department supported the establishment of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana, and the Jordanian Peace Operations Centre, which provides Arabic-based training for nations in that region. Additionally, during the year our Defence Academy ran a number of seven-week post-graduate diploma courses in 'Managing Defence in a Democracy' for targeted military and civilian personnel from the security sectors of around forty countries.

60.  Through these and other conflict prevention activities, the UK is beginning to make an impact in meeting the PSA target although details on the number of people affected by violent conflict in 2002/03 will not be available before the end of 2003. The overall assessment of progress against the PSA will be based on this data but will also take into account other factors beyond UK control, either in-country or within the wider international system.

61.  The Outreach programme, which aims to prepare nations for membership of NATO, also provided effective support and assistance to the Defence reform process in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. A variety of activities were undertaken, including individual, collective and specialist training, and the provision of military and civilian special advisers. UK support to the resettlement of military officers was extended from Russia (where over 17,000 have been retrained through the UK's resettlement project) to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

Counter-Terrorism Policy

62.  In July 2002 the Department published the White Paper 'A New Chapter to the Strategic Defence Review'. This was the Department's part of the Government's comprehensive examination of its strategies, preparedness and contingency planning in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001. The New Chapter confirmed that Armed Forces have an important contribution to make, but the Government does not believe that there is a specific military solution to international terrorism.

63.  The Government is prepared to use armed force against terrorism overseas when non-military tools fail. The New Chapter concluded that this required a series of adjustments and refinements to existing military means, not a step change in capability or concept of operations. The 2002 Spending Review settlement allowed the Department to invest in further development of 'network-enabled capability' (linking sensors, decision-makers and weapon systems so that information is shared, and action taken, as quickly as possible), providing better-controlled and precise military effect.

64.  Part of the New Chapter focused on enhancing the Armed Forces' ability to support the civil authorities in Home Security. On 31 October 2002 the Department announced the implementation of measures to reinforce our regional command structure to take part in civil emergency planning and round-the-clock operations when necessary; and to establish fourteen regionally-based Civil Contingency Reaction Forces (CCRFs) to increase our capacity to meet requests for assistance. Each CCRF will ultimately comprise some 500 volunteers drawn from existing Volunteer Reserve Forces. Implementation has progressed well with Initial Operating Capability achieved by the target date of December 2002 and Full Operating Capability is expected in December 2003. Overall, some 700 new Reserve posts have been created and over 130,000 additional man-training days provided. The Department also aims to acquire new communications equipment to ensure compatibility with the emergency services by 2006.

Other Activities

Missile Defence

65.  In November 2002, the Department published a public discussion document intended to promote debate about the major issues involved in our consideration of whether to participate in a programme to develop a missile defence system. There have been a number of Parliamentary and public discussions on missile defence, following a formal request from the US in December 2002 for UK agreement to an upgrade of the ballistic missile early warning radar at RAF Fylingdales as part of the US missile defence test bed, and as an emergency operational capability. The Secretary of State announced the Government's agreement to this request on 5 February 2003. In June 2003, the Secretary of State and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed a UK/US Memorandum of Understanding setting out the framework for future co-operation on missile defence activities, including closer technical and industrial co-operation.

66.  On Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence, the UK continued to monitor developments in the threat. In parallel, studies were undertaken to scope the extent of the capability gap in this area and identify potential solutions. The UK also retained a strong interest in international fora considering how the capability may be met by an alliance, in particular the NATO feasibility study that examined an active layered ballistic missile defence capability. The report from this study is in production and its implications for the UK will be considered over the coming year.

Arms Control and Counter Proliferation

67.  The Department continued to take active measures to implement its commitment to arms control and countering proliferation. These initiatives make a major contribution to international peace and security by helping to counter the threat from the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

68.  Significant progress has been made in assisting Russia with destruction of its chemical weapons and the first UK project begun in June 2002 was completed and formally handed over in early 2003. We contributed to the successful outcome of the meetings of the Preparatory Committee for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference and furthered negotiations for a new protocol to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, designed to reduce the risk to civilians from explosive remnants of war.

69.  The Department has taken a leading role in strengthening export control regimes, including through the Missile Technology Control Regime and Nuclear Suppliers Group and provided both high-level guidance and practical support to the United Nations Monitoring and Verification Commission (UNMOVIC).

Support to UK Defence Exports

70.  The Department ensures the highest levels of responsibility and accountability in its export control and non-proliferation policy, whilst at the same time supporting legitimate Defence exports and a strong UK Defence industry. In 2002 the UK won Defence orders worth £5Bn. These included the sale of Jernas air-defence systems to Malaysia, Hawk aircraft to Bahrain, aero-engine development work related to the Joint Strike Fighter to the US and Type 22 Frigates to Romania. Vosper Thornycroft was selected by Greece to build in partnership a new corvette for the Greek Navy and BAE SYSTEMS RO won a contract to supply the Ultralightweight Field Howitzer to the US Marine Corps. These orders represent a considerable achievement in a very competitive global Defence export market, giving the UK a market share of 22%, above the average for the last five years and up from 19% last year.

Last Updated: 3 Dec 03