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The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have significant military budgets and are seeking to build their domestic defence capabilities. These countries want domestic industries that can produce not only indigenous products and services, but the support systems to sustain their inventory of platforms and systems.
Much of their current procurement budget goes to the initial acquisition of assets from foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), making operational resilience challenging. Consequently, GCC armed forces are vulnerable to such risks as supply chain constraints and geopolitical tensions, which could disrupt supplies and render important assets inoperable. Further, as regional threats change, armed forces could come up short because domestic defence industries lack the customised research and development (R&D) to provide appropriate solutions.
Governments should build the domestic defence industry through dialogue and partnerships. This approach requires thinking differently. It involves transforming the domestic defence industry from a supplier into a planning partner, making it a key element in mission success by improving readiness and sustainment. This approach uses the need for sustainment to identify and build domestic defence industrial capabilities in line with national priorities. Leading armed forces have long relied on industry being a fundamental input to defence planning, and have worked collaboratively from idea inception to delivery.
This collaborative approach consists of four steps:
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1Integrate planning
GCC MoDs should apply an integrated planning process for their armed forces, bringing in domestic defence manufacturers at the earliest opportunity. MoDs and armed forces should share the capabilities they want to build, and the challenges they need to overcome, over the next 10 to 15 years.
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2Assess defence industry needs
Once they have identified their priority long-term military capabilities, MoDs can specify the industrial elements necessary to sustain them. Some assets, such as light armoured vehicles or fighter jets, require a significant amount of matériel to remain effective, including parts and fuel. Others, such as cyber defences, have ongoing hardware and software requirements. Regardless of where MoDs and armed forces focus their military capability development, they must also cover sustainment requirements across platforms and systems.
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3Develop industry options
Once domestic manufacturers start producing required defence goods, the industry should focus on creating a strategic military advantage—and not simply economic development. Given the large sums that GCC countries spend on defence procurement, diverting even a modest amount towards domestic industry would provide ample capital and build vital capabilities.
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4Monitor and improve defence industries
GCC governments need to both monitor and improve their defence industries over time. Armed forces and industry players need to continually assess industry performance, using long-term contracts and investment based on jointly determined, quantifiable key performance indicators and milestones. All defence ecosystem stakeholders need to understand whether objectives are being met, and they must be aligned on next steps.
As defence platforms and systems become more complex, and global supply chains remain fragile, GCC governments must develop the domestic defence industry as a core capability and embed it into their operational planning. That means collaborating closely with established OEMs and domestic players alike to identify future military demands, plan for their support, and apply a targeted approach to build domestic capabilities. That will transform the domestic defence industry from being a simple supplier to playing a role on the front line.
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