Defence and government sales in the UK

This chapter discusses defense and government sales in the United Kingdom. The UK defense budget slowly increased and stood at £20 billion for the 1989–1990 fiscal years. However, it is not just the defense budget that has been increasing; the proportion spent on equipment and ancillary—especially electronic—items have also increased. In 1989–1990, 41% of the defense budget was allocated to equipment, and a further 19% was earmarked for works, and miscellaneous stores and services. The Ministry of Defense (MOD) is the largest single customer of British industry and currently supports over 600,000 jobs, either directly or indirectly. Although it is a military organization, MOD is under the political direction of the Secretary of State for Defense. In any one year, MOD places at least 40,000 contracts. Although many of these contracts are specialized projects requiring advanced skills, quite a lot are ideally suited for smaller firms.