Debate contribution: Defence Industries

Debate contribution by Mr Doug Beattie MC on 20 May 2024.

MLA

Mr Doug Beattie MC

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

20 May 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Defence Industries

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4490705

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Some will view the motion through an ethical lens, and I will not be critical of anybody who does so, but I will view it through an economic and geopolitical lens in order to understand the wider issue. It is a much wider issue because the world is a far more dangerous place. Some will say that conflict is fuelled by the defence industry. Others will say that it is fuelled by profit or by the claiming of a country's resources and minerals to keep wider industry on the move, all of which fuel conflict. They are absolutely right — they do. However, that does not take away from the fact that we are in a far more dangerous place than we have been in many years. At present, we have major conflicts and tensions in the Middle East, throughout Africa, between China and Taiwan, between North and South Korea and, clearly, the Russian expansionism in Ukraine. Countries are concerned. We are already seeing an increase in defence spending across the globe and an increase in collective defence: NATO; the European Defence Agency; Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS); the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO); and the China-Russia economic pact. That is all fuelling the industry, which is a defence industry and an economic industry. The war in Ukraine has completely changed the geopolitical landscape. Many will view the world now in a pre-conflict stage. Since the Cold War, we have never been closer to global conflict than we are now. I served during the Cold War. I know what it was like guarding Rudolf Hess in Spandau prison in a divided Berlin. I know what it was like to face off with Russians. When West Germany was divided from East Germany, I knew what it was like to stand opposed to the Russians. It was a dangerous place. The present-day reality is that Northern Ireland has shown that it can provide high-quality defence equipment and development at pace, and that can be viewed as an economic opportunity. We heard from my colleague from Upper Bann about Thales, a first-class defence company that creates the next generation light anti-tank weapon (NLAW) that is used by eight countries around the world. It is the main anti-armour weapon being used in Ukraine. Starstreak, a high-velocity missile that is designed, developed and manufactured in Belfast, is used by 10 countries around the world. It is a portable air defence system. The RapidRanger is a mobile integrated defence control system, and there are space propulsion and satellite-based positioning systems. The propulsion competency centre was established because of the high-precision engineering skills here in Northern Ireland. Thales employs hundreds, puts millions of pounds into our economy and helps to build skills with apprenticeships through Ulster University and research through Queen's University. Thales has more capacity to create more jobs, more apprenticeships and more research and to put more money into our economy. That is only part of the equation. The other part of the story is that the private defence industry accounts for £25·3 billion a year in the UK. Scotland has a turnover of £7 billion, which equates to £3·2 billion going into their economy. In England and Wales, the figure is £16·4 billion, and, in Northern Ireland, it is £1·9 billion, which puts only £0·9 billion in value into our economy. Many people do not see how aerospace, defence and security are totally interlinked. Right now, as we sit here, cyberbattles are taking place right across the globe, this island and the United Kingdom, and they have lethal and non-lethal effects. There are people fighting cyberbattles today. It is as real a war as one that you would see on the television where man is fighting man. Northern Ireland is uniquely placed to be at the forefront of that cybertechnology. We are already there. We should be able to garner from that more economic benefits. The United Kingdom Government have announced that they are increasing their defence budget by £75 billion over the next five years. That will have a huge impact, and it is vital that Northern Ireland receives its fair share of the moneys for defence manufacturing and development. That could take us from £1 billion per year to £3 billion per year for the Northern Ireland economy. I go back to what I said: I know that there is an ethical question here. I am not arguing against that. I am looking at the economics. Northern Ireland must be an integral part of UK defence structures. That means upgrading Aldergrove station to revert it back to RAF Aldergrove and make it a home, once more, for fast jets. Upgrading Aldergrove would allow it to become a central hub for the rapid intake of forces and material from the United States and Canada into Europe if things were to get bad in Europe. That would be incredibly important globally. We have allowed that station to degrade over the years, but we can turn that around. Add to that an increase in the Royal Navy presence in the north-west and we will have the ability to cover the UK and the EU western approaches, particularly the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap and the underwater cabling from the US onto these islands. I revert to what I said at the start of my contribution. I will not criticise anybody if they have an ethical stance on this, because war is absolutely abhorrent. Nobody should want to or try to perpetuate war around the globe, but we have to live in the real world, and, in the real world, the defence, security and aerospace industry is absolutely massive. If, in Northern Ireland, we were to get our fair share of the UK's allocation towards defence spending and the wider private defence industry, it could be absolutely transformational for the Northern Ireland economy. I see it as an opportunity. It is an opportunity to use Northern Ireland within the defence structures of the United Kingdom to bring more resource to this part of the kingdom. Rebuild RAF Aldergrove, have more Royal Navy assets, improve our private defence systems, improve our cyberwarfare capabilities, make Northern Ireland the hub for cybertechnology and actually bring more money into the economy.

1,043 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification