Key takeaways

• MoD awards Boeing £879m to maintain the Apache and Chinook fleets
• UK defence budget rising from £62.2bn to £73.5bn by 2028/29
• 48% of defence employers report engineering skills shortages
• Around 13,500 personnel left the armed forces in the past 12 months
• Five new Defence Technical Excellence Colleges opening from April 2026
   

The contract

On 15 April 2026, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) awarded Boeing Defence UK an £879 million, three-year contract to maintain and support two of the British military's most important aircraft: the Army's AH-64E Apache attack helicopter and the RAF's CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter.

The contract, known as the Rotary Wing Enterprise (RWE), sustains more than 700 Boeing jobs across seven UK sites and around 500 roles in the wider supply chain. Boeing will also grow its apprenticeship programme to as many as 50 places over the next three years.
 

Why the spending is rising

The Strategic Defence Review 2025, published in June 2025, confirmed a defence budget of £62.2 billion for 2025/26, rising to £73.5 billion by 2028/29. The Prime Minister committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2027.

At the NATO summit in The Hague in June 2025, the UK signed up to a longer-term target of 3.5% of GDP on core defence by 2035. Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine is the clearest driver, having pushed European governments to reassess both the scale and pace of their defence investment.

The Defence Industrial Strategy, published in September 2025, projects a need for up to 50,000 additional defence workers by 2034/35 and commits £182 million to a new defence skills package.
 

Several major programmes are hiring at once

The Boeing contract sits alongside a number of other large programmes that are all drawing on the same pool of engineering talent at the same time.

The SSN-AUKUS programme, the trilateral agreement between the UK, US and Australia to develop nuclear-powered submarines, is centred on BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness and Rolls-Royce in Derby. The government projects around 7,000 additional UK jobs at this stage of the programme.

The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a next-generation combat aircraft being developed with Japan and Italy, has its international headquarters in Reading. More than 3,500 UK jobs and 1,000 apprenticeships are already in place. In shipbuilding, the Type 26 frigate is in production at BAE Systems in Glasgow and the Type 31 is being built by Babcock at Rosyth, together supporting several thousand engineering and manufacturing roles.
 

Engineering shortages are now the biggest challenge

The investment is committed and the programmes are running. The constraint is people.

Research by Guidant Global found that 48% of defence employers report engineering skills shortages. The ADS Group, the trade body for UK aerospace and defence, has cited more than 10,000 open STEM vacancies across the sector. Specialist roles requiring security clearance take an average of four to six months to fill.

Skills England's Defence Sector Skills Needs Assessment adds further context. Around 40% of male workers in the sector are over 50, meaning a significant share of the current workforce will retire during the same period that demand is at its highest.
 

Service leavers are a pipeline that fits

Around 13,500 personnel left the UK Regular Forces in the 12 months to December 2025. The Career Transition Partnership (CTP), the government-funded scheme that supports people leaving service, reports an employment rate of 88 to 89% within six months of leaving.

The fit with what defence employers need is direct. Many Other Ranks leave with hands-on experience in aviation maintenance, weapons systems, electronics and precision engineering. Officers and senior NCOs bring project leadership, systems thinking and security-cleared backgrounds.

Several major employers have built formal programmes around this. Babcock hires around 750 service leavers per year and offers a guaranteed interview alongside a structured upskilling pathway. BAE Systems runs a dedicated veterans network with its own guaranteed interview scheme. Both hold Gold awards under the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, the government's accreditation for employers who actively support armed forces personnel.

There is also a financial incentive. Businesses hiring veterans into their first civilian role qualify for 12 months of National Insurance relief worth up to £6,200 per employee. The Op PROSPER initiative, now running as Op ASCEND through the Forces Employment Charity, connects veterans with employers across engineering, manufacturing and digital roles.

Millbank is a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant and works actively to support service leavers into engineering and technical roles across defence and aerospace.
 

Apprenticeships and the pipeline ahead

The MoD currently supports around 24,000 apprentices per year across the defence sector. Five new Defence Technical Excellence Colleges were announced in April 2026, designed to deliver accredited technical training aligned to what defence employers actually need.

BAE Systems is recruiting more than 2,400 apprentices, undergraduates and graduates in 2025. Babcock is bringing on 1,500 early-career staff across the same period. For employers, apprenticeships are the most scalable long-term answer to the skills gap, but they require workforce planning that starts well before a contract is already live.
 

Millbank's perspective

Millbank works across the engineering and technical disciplines that defence programmes depend on, from aerospace maintenance and rotary systems through to shipbuilding, nuclear and advanced manufacturing.

If you are an engineering or technical professional considering where your skills fit into this expansion, including if you are leaving or have recently left the armed forces, we can help you find the right opportunity. If you are an employer planning your workforce around a major defence contract, we can help you map the roles and get ahead of the timeline.

Speak to our defence and engineering team about where your skills fit. Get in touch here

If you are planning your workforce around a major defence contract, we can help you map the disciplines and plan ahead. Contact us here.
 

Frequently asked questions

What is the Boeing Rotary Wing Enterprise contract?

The Rotary Wing Enterprise (RWE) is a three-year, £879 million MoD contract awarded to Boeing Defence UK in April 2026. It covers integrated maintenance and support for the British Army's Apache attack helicopters and the RAF's Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, sustaining more than 700 Boeing jobs and around 500 supply chain roles.

What engineering roles are most in demand in UK defence right now?

The highest-demand disciplines include systems engineering, software engineering, mechanical and electrical design, nuclear engineering, naval architecture, manufacturing engineering, specialist welding and cyber security. Roles requiring active security clearance take an average of four to six months to fill.

I am leaving the military. Can I move into a defence engineering role without a formal civilian qualification?

In many cases, yes. Major employers including Babcock and BAE Systems run guaranteed interview schemes for service leavers and offer structured upskilling pathways for candidates with relevant trade experience from service. Millbank works with service leavers across a range of disciplines and can advise on how your background maps to current demand.

What security clearance do I need, and how long does it take?

Most operational defence engineering roles require Security Check (SC) level clearance as a minimum, with some specialist positions requiring Developed Vetting (DV). Candidates who already hold active clearance from military service are particularly sought after, as employers can proceed without waiting for the vetting process to complete.

What other programmes are creating engineering jobs in UK defence right now?

Several large programmes are running simultaneously. SSN-AUKUS is expected to sustain around 7,000 additional UK jobs at this stage. The Global Combat Air Programme already supports more than 3,500 UK roles. The Type 26 and Type 31 frigates are in active build in Glasgow and Rosyth respectively. A £6 billion munitions investment is also creating demand for manufacturing engineers across multiple new sites.