1 Introduction
1. In this report we examine the progress of the
Future Rapid Effect System (FRES): the Ministry of Defence (MoD)
programme to equip the Army with a medium-weight armoured vehicle
capability. The Defence Committee has considered aspects of the
FRES programme as part of wider inquiries on five occasions since
2002: A New Chapter to the Strategic Defence Review;[1]
Defence White Paper 2003;[2]
Future Capabilities;[3]
and, in 2006, The Defence Industrial Strategy: update[4]
and The work of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.[5]
2. On 26 October 2006 we announced our inquiry into
the FRES programme.[6]
Our inquiry has examined the Army's operational requirement for
a new fleet of medium-weight armoured vehicles and how the MoD
plans to meet this requirement in both the short and long term.
We investigated the anticipated In-Service Date (ISD) for the
FRES fleet and looked at how other nations were meeting their
requirement for medium-weight armoured vehicles. Our inquiry also
examined how the MoD planned to manage the capability gap in its
armoured vehicle fleet between now and the anticipated FRES ISD.
We also considered the implications for the FRES programme of
the MoD's decision in July 2006 to procure US-made Cougar (Mastiff)
and UK-made Vector armoured patrol vehicles for deployment to
Iraq and Afghanistan.
3. In undertaking our inquiry, we had a briefing
on 5 December 2006 from representatives of some of the companies
involved in the FRES programme: Atkins, BAE Systems, General Dynamics
UK and Thales UK. This briefing was held in private owing to the
commercially sensitive stage of the FRES programme.
4. We took oral evidence on 12 December 2006 from
the MoD officials responsible for delivering the FRES programme:
Sir Peter Spencer KCB, Chief of Defence Procurement (CDP); Dr
Iain Watson, Operations Director of Information Superiority; and
Lieutenant General Andrew Figgures CBE, Deputy Chief of Staff
(Equipment Capability). We received written evidence from the
Ministry of Defence (MoD), some of the companies involved in the
FRES Initial Assessment Phase, the European Defence Agency and
others.[7]
5. We are grateful to all those who contributed to
our inquiry including our specialist advisers.
1 Defence Committee, Sixth Report of Session 2002-03,
A New Chapter to the Strategic Defence Review, HC 93-I Back
2
Defence Committee, Fifth Report of Session 2003-04, Defence
White Paper 2003, HC 465-I Back
3
Defence Committee, Fourth Report of Session 2004-05, Future
Capabilities, HC 45-I Back
4
Defence Committee, Sixth Report of Session 2006-07, The Defence
Industrial Strategy: update, HC 177 Back
5
HC (2006-07) 84 Back
6
http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/defence_committee/def061026___no__73.cfm Back
7
Ev 22-45 Back
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