14.1 |
Military equipment (post-conflict)
When a
capability gap in equipment is identified, there are three
requirements that must
be
fulfilled to initiate the procurement process:
Statement of
Requirement (SOR): A statement
articulating a capability shortfall; it states
what is
required.
Urgent
Statement of User Requirement (USUR): If the SOR
cannot be met by an
adjustment
of existing assets, a USUR is raised which indicates that there is
a capability
gap that
currently cannot be met. If the USUR is endorsed, it will be
designated as either
an Urgent
Operational Requirement, or an Urgent Sustainability Requirement.
It cannot
be both.
Urgent
Operational Requirement (UOR): A UOR seeks to
address a capability gap
by rapidly
procuring new or additional equipment or the enhancement of, or
essential
modification
to, existing equipment. That may involve bringing forward the
planned
procurement
of equipment from the future Equipment Programme.
Urgent
Sustainability Requirement (USR): A USR seeks to
address a sustainability gap
by rapidly
acquiring additional in‑service support.
11.
During
Operation TELIC in Iraq, Urgent Statements of User Requirements
(USURs)
for new
equipment were forwarded to the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ)
who
retained
ownership of the USUR until it was signed off. The head of PJHQ was
the Chief
of Joint
Operations (CJO).
12.
Each edition
of the Op TELIC Directive, issued by the Chief of the Defence
Staff
(CDS) to
the CJO, stated:
•
“Force
Protection. You are
responsible to me for the force protection of all
assigned UK
personnel and materiel in your JOA [Joint Operational Area]
in
order to
ensure their security from the threats of, WMD, espionage,
sabotage,
subversion,
terrorism and crime …”
•
“UORs
[Urgent Operational Requirements] … You are
to identify as soon as
possible
any further capability shortfalls and user requirements for the
support
of ongoing
operations; these should be submitted to DCDS (EC) [Deputy
Chief
of Defence
Staff (Equipment Capability)].”4
13.
The
responsibilities of the PJHQ and Front Line Commands (FLCs) for
pursuing
capability
shortfalls through the UOR process were set out in a “Standing
Instruction”
issued in
November 2004.5
4
Letter CDS
to CJO, 30 July 2003, ‘Chief of the Defence Staff Directive to the
Joint Commander for
Operation
TELIC (Edition 3)’.
5
Minute Soar
to UOR Stakeholder, 26 November 2004, ‘Urgent
Operational/Sustainability Requirements –
Standing
Instruction (Version 1)’.
5