Wargaming the supply chain: can UK industry keep up in a long war?

On 29 April 2026 the Ministry of Defence announced a strategic wargame to test whether UK defence supply chains could keep up with a sustained surge in demand during large-scale conflict.

Government and industry at one table

Senior MOD leaders played alongside five industry partners: Boeing, KNDS, MBDA, Rheinmetall and Tekever. The aim was to find the constraints in buying and distributing critical military equipment over a long period, not just in the first weeks of a war.

It built on a December 2024 exercise on replenishing ammunition and equipment in wartime, this time stretching the timeline and the demand. Findings feed into the Defence Industrial Strategy, with the MOD saying it wants smaller, innovative companies to play a bigger role.

Why it matters

Logistics decides campaigns, and medical logistics is no exception. Blood products, surgical consumables, evacuation aircraft and hospital beds are all finite. A plan that works for the first wave of casualties can fail by the tenth day. Wargames that run long enough to expose those limits are some of the most valuable a planner can play.

Sources

• Strategic wargame evaluates UK defence supply chain resilience, Defence Online, May 2026