Bristol, 19 October 2023, the OCCAR-EA Director visited the UK MoD (Defence Equipment and Support DE&S) at Abbey Wood, Bristol.
Accompanied by a small OCCAR-EA team, the Director spent the day meeting various key UK MoD stakeholders, enablers and teams.
The day began with a meeting with the DE&S Head of Strategy Team, who provided key insights on the strategic context and thinking of DE&S. It was clear that both DE&S and OCCAR-EA are aligned in their strategic approaches.
The consultation was followed by another constructive meeting with the UK team dealing with MMCM. They provided the Director with UK thinking on the current progress of the programme from the UK perspective and confirmed the good relationship between the UK team and OCCAR-EA.
The Director also had the opportunity to meet with the UK team leading on the integration of the Wide Wet Gap Crossing (WWGC) programme into OCCAR. They confirmed that their team were very pleased with the support provided by OCCAR-EA in general (and PMSD in particular) and that the programme was on track.
The Director also met with the Director General Air of DE&S, Vice Admiral Sir Rick Thompson and had constructive discussions on corporate activities and A400M. Vice Admiral Sir Rick Thompson is also the OCCAR UK Board of Supervisors (BoS) member and UK A400M Programme Board member.
The day was rounded off with a meeting with the UK BOXER team, who provided useful feedback on the progress of the BOXER programme from the UK perspective.