Defence logistics in context

Abstract

The principal purpose of this chapter is to examine aspects of defence logistics, principally operational logistics, in order to shed light on some of the realities that give it its particular character, or at least some of its character. One possible approach is to analyse the defence supply chain and support chain using an analytical framework built around established through life support and supply chain paradigms, concepts, and ideas, drawn from the commercial sector. Another approach is to examine some specific characteristics of defence supply chains and support chains, some of their attributes, and some of their practical realities, and whilst doing so refer to the established paradigms, concepts, and ideas for comparison, but only where it seems appropriate to do so, in the hope that they might to some extent act as reference points by which defence logistics can be better understood by somebody not directly involved in its planning and delivery. One aim of this chapter is to examine the freedoms which defence departments and defence logisticians have in shaping their business, and the factors, or ‘realities’, which constrain them.