Life Cycle Management of Military Equipment: Experiences, Expectations and Opportunities for Collaboration

Bratislava, 27.9.2023

“Procurement of military equipment represents not only a potential improvement of defence capabilities, but most of the time also a significant burden on the budget of the Ministry of Defence and public finances as a whole. When assessing the price, the public usually encounters only the so-called acquisition price of the equipment, which often does not take into account the total life cycle including service, logistics, training, but also the cost of the actual decommissioning of the equipment from the use of the armed forces. Such a comprehensive view then shows a much more realistic view of the public requirements. It is therefore imperative that the complex process of assessing and procuring new military equipment is addressed through the lens of tracking all costs, which can give us a much more accurate/precise perception of the total costs required.

There are a number of modern approaches that can help reduce and streamline processes within the military equipment life cycle. The Institute for Central Europe (ICE) has therefore prepared an expert symposium which, in addition to highlighting this neglected yet critically important aspect of armed forces modernisation, will also discuss other options for reducing costs and streamlining processes within the overall lifecycle of military (especially land-based) equipment, including international cooperation. It is international cooperation that could be one of the key solutions in reducing overall costs throughout the life cycle of military equipment. The event was therefore attended by the highest representatives of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, headed by the Secretary of State and Chief of the General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces, the Military Envoy of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as a delegation from the Czech Ministry of Defence and representatives of state industrial enterprises and private companies.

The event entitled “Life Cycle Management of Military Technology: Experiences, Expectations and Opportunities for Cooperation” was held thanks to the support of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic and Rheinmetall MAN.

https://iceoz.sk/konferencia-europska-azylova-politika-po-ukrajine/