The UK government and defence suppliers are seriously examining the supply chain for Chinese or Russian infiltration such as Chinese surveillance equipment, Defence Procurement minister Alex Chalk said on Monday.
It comes after a recent Mail on Sunday investigation found that at least six army bases had surveillance cameras made by China’s Hikvision or Dahua at their front doors.
Speaking at the ConservativeHome Defence and Security Conference, Chalk said the UK can’t afford to aim for “Gucci weapons” and have a stop-and-start procurement process and “have to move to always-on.”
In terms of procurement, Chalk believes it’s preferable to have 80 percent capability today rather than 100 percent tomorrow “because tomorrow never comes.”…