Annex G: Netherlands

In the Netherlands, defence budget cuts after the financial crisis precipitated the Dutch Ministry of Defence (MinDef)'s recent preference for procuring off-the-shelf where possible, but simultaneously investing in talent to augment R&D capability in technological niches. The Dutch defence budget is set at €9.7 billion for 2018, (approximately 1.2 per cent of GDP), so typically the Dutch government strategically invests its limited resources in the Dutch DTIB's areas of technical strength in order to boost the competitiveness of Dutch industry and maintain the indigenous skills base. The local DTIB is largely comprised of dual-use enterprises and research institutions with some defence-specific business segments. The Dutch DTIB includes a few global companies' subsidiaries and one original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

The Dutch DTIB is comprised of 650 companies employing approximately 24,800 staff. Based on the latest quantitative data provided on a voluntary basis to the government, and the latest figures published by the Netherlands Industries for Defence and Security (NIDV), turnover in 2014 for the DTIB was valued at €4.54 billion—with around 68 per cent of that total revenue originating from exports. Dutch defence manufacturing capabilities include frigates and corvettes, aerospace structures (feeding into global supply chains for multinational programmes), as well as weapons and ammunition, but many of the industry's innovative strengths arguably lie in sub-systems and components with applications in the maritime, aerospace and cyber domains. Another area of particular strength is parts and components for weapons and ammunition, comprising 84.4 per cent of recent exports.