Operational readiness in European defence

MRO follows a simple principle: right part, right place, right time. In the defence industry, executing this becomes inherently complex due to:

• Highly complex networks
  MRO relies on ensuring spare parts availability across numerous operational service points and depots, requiring coordinated planning across a wide range of locations, which increases complexity in positioning inventory and maintaining readiness.
  
  
• High number of specialised spare parts portfolios
  Thousands of low-volume, platform-specific components must be managed simultaneously, resulting in high inventory complexity and significant capital tied up in stock.
  
  
• Unpredictable demand
  Failures, missions, and ageing equipment create volatile demand patterns, resulting in difficult forecasting and reactive decision-making.
  
  
• Criticality of individual components
  A single missing part can ground an entire system, resulting in disproportionate operational impact from small shortages.
  
  
• Long and uncertain lead times
  Specialised production and certification processes delay replenishment, resulting in increased need for anticipation and resilience.

What this means in practice

A lack of awareness is rarely the problem; instead, organisations struggle because MRO has long been execution-driven, with planning built around past events rather than forward-looking demand and readiness priorities.

Given this complexity, organisations tend to overstock where it matters least, run short where it matters most, and face critical trade-offs between cost, risk, and readiness without the time or visibility to make them well.

Organisations that close this gap do not just respond better – they stop being caught off guard.

Turning MRO into a strategic capability

At its core, MRO ensures that assets remain available, reliable, and ready for deployment throughout their lifecycle. In defence, this spans three interconnected dimensions:

1. The maintenance and servicing of assets – from aircraft and vessels to trucks and land systems, often across dispersed locations
   
   
2. The availability of spare parts and repairable components, where supplier collaboration is critical
   
   
3. The availability of skilled service and capable operators, including the technical expertise needed to execute repairs when and where they are required.
   
   

The importance of this becomes clear in practice. A fighter aircraft may be fully operationally available on paper, but if a single certified component is unavailable – or no qualified technician is on site – it cannot fly. Readiness is not limited by procurement; it is determined by the MRO setup supporting it.

Across the defence industry, leading organisations are beginning to shift away from reactive MRO execution towards a more integrated and readiness-driven approach. In this transition, four capabilities make the difference:

Why this matters now

As defence spending accelerates and geopolitical uncertainty continues to reshape the security landscape, organisations face a narrow window to strengthen and scale their MRO capabilities.

Organisations that succeed will be better positioned to:

• Improve asset availability without proportionally increasing cost
• Strengthen resilience against supply chain disruptions
• Position themselves as strategic partners in the defence ecosystem

Whereas organisations that fail to adapt risk the opposite:

• Increasing spending without improving readiness
• Persistent operational bottlenecks
• Continued dependency on fragile supply chains

The bottom line

As Europe accelerates defence investments, the ability to convert spending into operational readiness is becoming the defining challenge. MRO sits at the centre of this shift. Organisations that succeed in building scalable and resilient MRO capabilities will improve the availability of critical assets, thereby enhancing operational readiness and strengthening their role across the defence value chain.