Abstract
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Defence supply chains face rising pressures linked to geopolitical instability, technological change and expectations around sovereign industrial resilience. Lower‑tier suppliers, particularly SMEs, are essential to capability and continuity but often lack access to structured development support. This developmental paper examines the UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Supplier Capability Development Programme (DSCDP), a targeted intervention designed to uplift organisational capability and strengthen supply chain resilience. Using early evidence from diagnostic assessments, Business Improvement Plans and interim performance materials, the paper evaluates DSCDP’s role as a capability‑building mechanism for defence suppliers. DSCDP provides up to £200,000 of organisational development support through diagnostics, tailored improvement plans, specialist advisory input, training and learning resources. Since launch, the programme has received over 600 expressions of interest and admitted 19 SMEs across two competitive rounds. Early findings indicate measurable improvements across core capability areas including strategy, leadership, quality management, delivery processes and commercial readiness. Firms report clearer business strategies, improved governance, enhanced operational processes and strengthened ability to engage effectively with primes and MOD stakeholders, contributing to greater reliability and reduced performance variability. Evidence also indicates improved continuity planning, stronger risk management and increased responsiveness to disruption, supporting resilience outcomes. Enhanced competitiveness and bid‑readiness are reflected in improved tendering confidence and early examples of new contract awards. Participation patterns suggest geographically distributed engagement, helping support a more inclusive and regionally balanced supply chain. At system level, capabilities strengthened through DSCDP appear to contribute to wider defence industrial resilience, including reduced dependency risks, improved supplier maturity and enhanced readiness to support MOD programmes. The paper positions DSCDP as an emerging example of inclusive, capability‑led supplier development in a highly regulated sector, demonstrating how targeted uplift at the firm level can influence broader supply chain robustness. While the analysis draws on early-stage evidence, it provides a foundation for understanding how supplier capability interventions can strengthen defence supply chain performance and inform future policy design.