About DE & S
Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S)
Launched on 1 April 1999, the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) was an executive arm of the MOD, responsible for buying weapons systems and platforms and for managing major upgrades.
The Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) was launched on 1 April 2000 and was responsible for supporting and maintaining equipment procured by the DPA and its predecessor organisation, carrying out upgrades to that equipment and disposing of it at the end of its life. The DLO was also responsible for managing much of the defence supply chain, which is how equipment and supplies move back and forth between factory, storage, the front line and maintenance facilities. Other responsibilities included the procurement of clothing and personal issue equipment, the military post system and feeding troops on operations.
Over the next five years both organisations sought to find common ways of working and better ways of sharing resources. However, the Enabling Acquisition Change (EAC) review, carried out under the Defence Industrial Strategy in the first part of 2006, recommended that the natural next step would be to merge the two organisations in 2007.
The merger was taken forward by a small team drawn from both the DPA and the DLO, led by a 2* Senior Civil Servant. The team was tasked to form an integrated procurement and support organisation in order to exploit best practice for the DPA and the DLO. The new organisation was to be fit for purpose from 2 April 2007.
The new organisation, called Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), is led by General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue, as the first Chief of Defence Materiel. DE&S will operate as a single, coherent equipment and support organisation, with a senior leadership team in place and operational. Its mission is: “To equip and support our Armed Forces.”
DE&S headquarters are based at Abbey Wood, Bristol and the organisation currently employs approximately 29,000 staff across 65 locations and is represented at 150 specific sites in the UK. DE&S equips and supports the UK’s Armed Forces for current and future operations. It acquires and supports through life, including disposal, equipment and services ranging from ships, aircraft, vehicles and weapons to electronic systems and information systems.
