Briefing Note: Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 – Training & Simulation Focus

Date: 10 September 2025

Purpose: Extend analysis of the Spending Review 2025 and Strategic Defence Review 2025 by evaluating the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) 2025 – Making Defence an Engine for Growth, with emphasis on training, simulation and alignment with the IMPACT framework.

Related Notes:

Briefing Note: Spending Review 2025 – Training and Simulation (Metier Solutions Blog, June 2025)

Briefing Note: Strategic Defence Review 2025 – Training and Simulation (Metier Solutions Blog, June 2025)

Context

SR 2025 established budgetary uplifts, confirming defence spending rise to 2.5% GDP by 2027, with allocations supporting training and simulation infrastructure.

SDR 2025 set doctrinal priorities: NATO-centred pedagogy, managed risk, synthetic environments and compressed delivery timelines (Nov 2025–Dec 2026).

DIS 2025 reframes defence as both a security requirement and an industrial growth engine, embedding training and simulation reform into economic policy, procurement strategy and regional investment.

Strategic Vision (DIS 2025)

Six priority outcomes by 2035:

1. Make defence an engine for growth.
2. Back UK-based businesses, including SMEs.
3. Lead in defence innovation.
4. Build a resilient industrial base.
5. Transform procurement.
6. Forge enduring partnerships.

Training & Simulation Implications

Skills Infrastructure: Creation of Defence Technical Excellence Colleges (DTECs), Defence Universities Alliance, Defence Skills Passport and the Destination Defence campaign.

Synthetic Environments: Integration of AI, digital twins, nuclear enterprise simulation and rapid commercial exploitation.

Procurement Reform: Segmented acquisition model reduces timelines, accelerating adoption of training and simulation technologies.

Regional Delivery: Defence Growth Deals (Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) anchor simulation capabilities within industrial clusters.

Integration with SR and SDR

Continuity: DIS operationalises SDR’s doctrinal intent (synthetic wraps, career education pathways) by embedding them into funding and industrial levers.

Evolution: DIS positions training and simulation not only for readiness but also as economic multipliers (skills, exports, inward investment).

Time Horizon: SDR compressed milestones (2025–26) sit uneasily against DIS’s 10-year investment horizon, creating sequencing risks.

Challenges (Mapped to IMPACT Coefficients)

Key Risks & Mitigations

Synchronisation risk: SDR deadlines vs DIS sequencing.

Mitigation: Accelerate synthetic environment pilots within SDR window.

Industrial imbalance: SMEs excluded early.

Mitigation: Interim SME engagement measures before 2026.

Cultural barriers: Workforce mobility resisted.

Mitigation: Embed Skills Passport into cadet and induction pipelines.

 

DIS 2025 deepens the reforms outlined in SR and SDR, embedding training and simulation into industrial strategy, procurement and skills development. Yet timeliness, capacity and resilience remain exposed. Addressing these challenges through #IMPACT provides the necessary diagnostic and mitigation framework.