{"id":30222,"date":"2026-09-19T11:32:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T08:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/?p=30222"},"modified":"2026-09-19T11:32:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T08:32:49","slug":"uk-auto-suppliers-defence-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/world\/uk-auto-suppliers-defence-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"From cars to weapons: British factories are preparing to switch production"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"news-lead\">British automotive component manufacturers have appealed to the government to help them gain a foothold in the defence and aerospace markets. The sector attributes this to the decline in car production and the risks to employment, whilst government spending on defence is rising. The companies believe they can utilise their existing equipment and workforce for this new venture.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-summary-box\">\n<p><strong>Briefly about the main points<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The heads of nine companies have written to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.<\/li>\n<li>Manufacturers want to supply components for the aviation and defence sectors.<\/li>\n<li>Certification for a new sector can take between 18 and 36 months.<\/li>\n<li>The industry is seeking assistance with permits, energy costs and a pilot in the West Midlands.<\/li>\n<li>The UK\u2019s defence investment plan amounts to around \u00a3298 billion over four years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Manufacturers are asking for help in entering the defence market<\/h2>\n<p>The letter was addressed to the Prime Minister <strong>Andy Bernemu<\/strong> and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was signed by the heads of nine manufacturing companies and the president of the Confederation of British Metalforming. The initiative was launched by the chairman of the Evtec manufacturing group <strong>David Roberts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The signatories state that their companies already have the equipment and specialists required to manufacture components for aeroplanes, armoured vehicles, submarines and other military equipment. They aim to utilise these capabilities in the defence and <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/science-tech\/skyfall-airbus-memorandum-partnerstvo\/\">the aerospace industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to the authors of the appeal, certification to operate in the aerospace or defence sectors takes between 18 and 36 months. Companies need to obtain licences, undergo inspections and modify some of their production processes.<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturers say that, due to a fall in revenue from automotive orders, they are finding it increasingly difficult to fund this transition themselves. They are asking for help with certification, for industrial energy costs to be reduced, and for a pilot scheme to be launched in the West Midlands.<\/p>\n<h2>Diversification is seen as a means of safeguarding jobs<\/h2>\n<p>The authors of the letter refer to Jaguar Land Rover\u2019s decision to cut around 4,000 jobs. The company attributed the restructuring to the challenging situation in the automotive industry, technological changes, competition and geopolitical uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p>According to the signatories\u2019 estimates, the automotive supply chain accounts for around 183,000 jobs. They believe that without rapid diversification, some of this capacity could be lost. The companies have stated their readiness to invest in new production capacity, retrain staff and recruit apprentices for the defence industry.<\/p>\n<p>The Defence Investment Plan, published in June, provides for investment of around \u00a3298 billion over four years. The government states that these funds are intended to strengthen the armed forces and expand the national defence industrial base.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Defence also plans to increase procurement from small and medium-sized British companies by \u00a32.5 billion by summer 2028 \u2014 an increase of approximately 50% on the baseline. A significant proportion of this spending already flows through the supply chains of major contractors, so subcontracting may be a viable option for some automotive suppliers.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to Sky News, the government said it was working to ensure the resilience of supply chains through grants, reductions in energy costs and the involvement of private capital in defence programmes.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>British automotive suppliers are asking the government to help them switch to defence contracts, as the certification process can take up to 36 months.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":207433346,"featured_media":30221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"\u0411\u0440\u0438\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0456 \u0432\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0431\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0438 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u044f\u0442\u044c \u0443\u0440\u044f\u0434 \u0434\u043e\u043f\u043e\u043c\u043e\u0433\u0442\u0438 \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0439\u0442\u0438 \u0432\u0456\u0434 \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u043a\u043e\u043c\u043f\u043e\u043d\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0456\u0432 \u0434\u043e \u043e\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u043d\u0438\u0445 \u0437\u0430\u043c\u043e\u0432\u043b\u0435\u043d\u044c \u0447\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437 \u043f\u0430\u0434\u0456\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0432\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0431\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0442\u0432\u0430 \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e.","rank_math_title":"\u0411\u0440\u0438\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u043f\u0440\u043e\u043c \u0445\u043e\u0447\u0435 \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0439\u0442\u0438 \u043d\u0430 \u043e\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u043d\u0435 \u0432\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0431\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0442\u0432\u043e","rank_math_focus_keyword":"\u0411\u0440\u0438\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u043f\u0440\u043e\u043c","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[805619],"tags":[805624],"class_list":["post-30222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-805624"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433346"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30223,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30222\/revisions\/30223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}