On 25 May, chairman of DV - KTZ bd Jan Wind - had the opportunity to give his reaction from KIVI in the House of Representatives to the Defence Policy Memorandum 2018 and the answers to the questions raised earlier on this memorandum following the round-table discussion earlier this year.
His speech read:
President,
Thank you very much that the working group of the Royal Institute of Engineers is also allowed to comment today on the Defence Paper and the answers to the questions raised on it.
Technology and equipment derived from it are a very important aspect for defence. An importance that is constantly growing. After all, without up-to-date equipment, superiority over an adversary is not possible. New technical possibilities are constantly being developed that Defence can exploit, but also threats to which Defence has to find an answer.
I would like to touch on a few important issues related to technology:
The minister's answers to the questions on the investment ratio and the buy-from-the-shelf policy are encouraging. It would be nice if the investment ratio indeed rises to 27% by the end of this cabinet period.
Less encouraging is that it is expected to remain difficult to find military personnel in the coming period. Especially technicians. It therefore seems wise to choose equipment that requires few or no people. Also for security reasons, lower personnel deployment often offers advantages. Moreover, partly unmanned weapon systems make it easier to achieve military superiority. Of course, always under meaningful human control.
The minister indicates that the future M-frigate is a good example of European cooperation that still uses Article 346. Naval construction is a special niche in which the Netherlands excels compared to other European countries. It seems sensible to seek out other niches in parallel with further European integration and follow the same strategy there. This fits well with the announced reassessment of the Defence Industry Strategy.
The ministers indicate that the extra budget is only a good start. More is needed to bring the capability up to standard. The working group believes that - in addition to further budget increases - it could be investigated whether a modern economic approach would enable more effective use of the available budget. In most other sectors of the economy, alternative forms of financing are quite common.
Finally, I would like to focus on sustainability. A subject with which Defence has no natural connection. The minister refers to the Operational Energy Strategy, which contains policy targets for 2030 and 2050. However, this strategy was drawn up before the Paris Agreement. Since then, the energy transition has accelerated and become much more in the public eye. It is recommended to anticipate this when acquiring and building the major projects now announced. After all, these will last until 2060 or later. The availability of fossil fuel by then will be very different from today.
Thank you.
