NAD Group Fully Established as Deputy NAD Andy Start Retires

Homeland April 27, 2026

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group is now fully established, marking the most significant structural reform of UK defence procurement in a generation.

The announcement, made on 13 April 2026, also confirms the retirement of Deputy National Armaments Director Andy Start, the former Chief Executive of Defence Equipment & Support, who leaves the Ministry of Defence after 37 years in defence. The NAD Group is led by National Armaments Director Rupert Pearce, who joined the Ministry of Defence in October 2025.

The NAD Group has been created to drive delivery of the Defence Industrial Strategy, accelerate acquisition reform, build a resilient UK defence supply chain and grow UK defence exports. Its defining structural change is the consolidation of eight previously separate procurement budgets into a single investment budget under the National Armaments Director. That shift places a single point of authority over how the Ministry of Defence buys equipment, spare parts, services and sustainment across every operating domain, providing industry with a clearer line of sight into departmental priorities and investment phasing.

Delivering against those objectives, the NAD Group has already established Taskforce Sabre, a dedicated programme created in response to emerging lessons from the conflict in Ukraine and intended to improve the speed at which the Ministry of Defence is able to move from requirement to contract. The Group has also been tasked with speeding up procurement timelines more broadly, a long-standing concern for suppliers operating into the Ministry of Defence.

Andy Start’s retirement closes a 37-year career that spanned operational, industrial and senior procurement roles, most recently as Chief Executive of Defence Equipment & Support. His departure represents a generational transition at the head of UK defence procurement and coincides with the full embedding of the new NAD Group operating model. The Ministry of Defence has acknowledged his contribution to acquisition reform and to defence industrial strategy in recent years.

For suppliers, the practical implication is that the NAD Group, rather than a fragmented set of programme-specific budgets, is now the principal interlocutor for long-term investment decisions. Companies of all sizes, including small and medium-sized enterprises and new entrants seeking to build a defence business, should review their account management, bid pipeline and engagement models to align with the consolidated investment budget and the acquisition reform timetable. Tracking NAD Group communications, Taskforce Sabre requirements and export promotion activity will be critical to positioning for the pipeline of contracts expected to flow in the coming months.

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