A leading military commander has advised that the Armed Forces are facing many of the same challenges as civilian businesses in striving to build expertise in digital, tech and cyber

UK military and defence organisations are finding new ways of “being imaginative” to help attract young people into the sector and close technological skills gaps, one of the country’s top RAF officers has claimed.

In a recent appearance before parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, air marshal Tim Jones acknowledged that “we have had a tough few years in recruitment” – but that things are now beginning to improve.

Jones, who was in 2024 appointed to a newly created role as deputy chief of the defence staff with responsibility for force development, told MPs that the Armed Forces and defence sector still have a marked need to build expertise in certain key areas. But that new and creative recruitment solutions are being sought, he claimed.

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“A modern employer should be imaginative and creative about engaging with the modern workforce,” he said. “We still have challenges in certain skills like cyber, engineers and digital—of course, we are not the only organisation in the country that is struggling to get hold of those skills in the numbers we need. However, the situation is changing and we are being imaginative to make defence appeal to young people with new skillsets, which we have not previously been accustomed to having in our organisation. It is about making sure that we are as attractive as possible to them, and doing justice to those people who are turning up and showing an interest.”

Appearing alongside Jones, the Ministry of Defence’s national armaments director Rupert Pearce reinforced that “a lot of the transformation of our Armed Forces in years to come will be through the same kind of things that every company in Britain is looking to do – namely, digitalise”.

“I do not want to sound flip by saying that we are trying to digitalise the business of warfare, but things such as the Digital Targeting Web, the use of data and the interconnectedness of every asse – sensor, effector and platform – are key parts of what we need to do in the years to come.”