UK Ministry of Defence - Developing the Business Case for the RAF Typhoon Replacement

How we helped:

A UK Ministry of Defence team was tasked with developing the business case for the sixth-generation aircraft programme intended to replace the RAF’s Typhoon fleet. Professor John Louth was appointed to co-chair, alongside Air Chief-Marshal Sir Brian Burridge, an independent review of the technology roadmap, business plan, financial plan and risk management arrangements supporting the programme.

The review delivered three significant benefits:

1. Increased confidence in the investment case  --  Independent scrutiny provided the MoD and wider Government with assurance that appropriate due diligence had been undertaken and that the programme’s strategic, financial and technical assumptions were sufficiently robust to support major investment decisions.

2. Greater visibility and control of programme risk  --  The review confirmed that key risks and issues had been identified, understood and appropriately managed at both programme and project level, strengthening governance and providing decision-makers with greater confidence in the programme’s ability to manage uncertainty.

3. Enabled more than £2 billion of early-stage investment  --  The evidence and assurance generated by the independent review helped give the MoD and its international partners the confidence to release in excess of £2 billion for prototype development and associated site facilities, enabling the programme to progress towards delivery of Tempest aircraft in the 2030s.

Will Green, the civil servant responsible for navigating the Business Case through Whitehall, said:

“The Burridge/Louth Independent Review was pivotal in giving the Government the confidence to commit to the Tempest programme which could grow into the largest defence international collaboration this country has been involved with.”