Ministry of Defence - Integrated Operating Concept 2025 (2021)

 

Foreword

 

The strategic context is increasingly complex, dynamic and competitive. We live in an era of strategic competition in which long-held assumptions are challenged daily. Old distinctions between ‘peace’ and ‘war’, between ‘public’ and ‘private’, between ‘foreign’ and ‘domestic’ and between ‘state’ and ‘non-state’ are increasingly out of date. Our authoritarian rivals see the strategic context as a continuous struggle in which non-military and military instruments are used unconstrained by any distinction between peace and war. These regimes believe that they are already engaged in an intense form of conflict that is predominantly political rather than military. Their strategy of ‘political warfare’ is designed to undermine cohesion, to erode economic, political and social resilience, and to compete for strategic advantage in key regions of the world.

The Integrated Operating Concept is designed to deal with this challenge. It updates our thinking on deterrence, recognising that our rivals are seeking to win without eliciting a warfighting response. Hence it establishes the need to compete below the threshold of war and it distinguishes between ‘operating’ and ‘warfighting’. It emphasises the importance of integration with allies, of the levers of statecraft, and across the five operational domains – multi-domain integration. This requires a transformation of the military instrument, including the need to structure forces to operate that can be adapted at graduated readiness to warfight while retaining some forces, including the Reserve, that are optimised to warfight. The ability to warfight is fundamental to our credibility.
Defence is confronted with two imperatives. We must establish a strategic culture, posture and ‘way of warfare’ that is fit for purpose in this new era of global competition; and we must modernise at the pace of relevance to be able to handle future threats. The Integrated Operating Concept is designed to guide our approach to addressing these challenges in the immediate term and represents a significant shift in military philosophy.