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<p>The Royal Navy (RN) continues to deliver their operational commitments at home
and overseas. Cannibalisation is a recognised Defence practice for satisfying a materiel
demand within a required delivery date and has been in place for many years in the
Armed Forces. It is used only when all other sources of supply have been explored
and is essential to protecting the operational programmes of our units.</p><p>The
operational imperative for the RN often dictates that cannibalisation remains the
best solution. While it is the case that the percentage of cannibalisation has risen
over the period of the report, it represents only 0.4% of all equipment issued to
the RN.</p><p>The RN is working closely with other organisations within the Ministry
of Defence (MOD) to optimise the balance between equipment and system reliability
and the purchase of spares and stock inventory. The RN has introduced an "in
Service Capability Management" organisation which clearly attributes accountability
and responsibility for platform performance, driving improvements in availability,
reliability, sustainability and affordability.</p><p>The RN will now use the information
from the Report to monitor trends more closely, review the impact of cost saving decisions,
aiming to improve support and greater efficiency.</p><p>The MOD continues to invest
in advanced modelling of their inventory requirement to ensure that the requirements
of complex operations, technologically advanced equipment and high tempo programmes
are achieved. This investment ensures that cannibalisation remains a last resort option.
However, there is no evidence that this recognised practice is having a demoralising
effect on members of the RN.</p>
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