Concepts are reasonable assessments of how UK Armed Forces might wish to operate in the medium to long term, based on changes in Policy and emerging trends in the strategic, security and technological domains: they will usually contain a combination of informed judgement and innovative thinking.
Concepts are subjected to rigorous analysis, systematic evaluation and practical testing and experimentation to transform creative thought into credible, effective ways of operating or a well-defined capability requirement.
They are articulated in different forms; for example, the High Level Operational Concept (HLOC) describes in broad terms the principles and characteristics of the way in which the UK Armed Forces might operate in future. This is expanded through the 7 Functions of the Defence Capability Framework (DCF), which provides a common language to describe the things we require our Armed Forces to do.
Concepts in their early stages normally have a horizon of 15-20 years and will guide rather than immediately influence capability acquisition, but, progressively, achieve sufficient maturity through experimentation to provide authoritative provenance and momentum for the resourcing of capability.
Finally, and most importantly, Concepts provide the intellectual underpinning for future Defence capabilities including the associated equipment, systems, force structure, organisation, training etc.
Early conceptual work is necessarily wide-ranging and abstract, but while Analytical Concepts include themes and innovative ideas in general terms, they do not yet have the rigour and granularity necessary to meet the requirements of the MOD Unified Customer.
The purpose of Analytical Concepts is to challenge conventional wisdom, ensure intellectual rigour and relevance, provide a firm basis for further conceptual development and early indications of capabilities that might need to be procured.
Analytical Concepts then transition through an Interim stage of development in which they are subjected to extensive testing, analysis, experimentation, validation and staffing.
Once this phase is complete, Concepts become Applied, ready for authoritative use by ECC, Programming and operational communities. These 3 progressive stages of conceptual development form a Hierarchy of Concepts.
Analytical Concepts are generated by the DCDC as an initial response to changes in Policy, future trends and innovative thinking and as a basis for further development. They are used to provide the context within which Interim or Applied Concepts are developed. The horizon for an Analytical Concept extends out to about 15-20 years (Epoch 4). Examples are:
- The High Level Operational Concept (HLOC) provides a long-term vision of the circumstances and way in which UK Armed Forces are expected to operate in the future. Salient parts of the HLOC will normally be developed further through subordinate Analytical Concepts (sub-Concepts), to give greater exposure and detail to specific elements of the Defence Capability Framework (DCF) and the context for subsequent conceptual development. HLOC sub-Concepts may also be developed to reflect innovative thinking that builds on and improves the existing DCF, ahead of a revision of the HLOC
- Defence Capability Framework (DCF) Concepts. These are the functions of the DCF that merit further analysis prior to their Interim Stage of development.
Interim Concepts are Analytical Concepts that are undergoing further development and validation before final Central Staff endorsement. The term 'Interim' describes a stage of development rather than a specific output. Once a mature Interim Concept is endorsed it becomes an Applied Concept.
Applied Concepts are put to practical use by Capability Developers and Defence Planners. Their horizon is the 10-20 year timeframe (Epochs 3 - 4). An Applied Concept describes the ways in which a range of (future and where necessary extant) capabilities are used in a future operational context to solve a particular problem or capability gap.
Applied Concepts will be used to develop CONEMP and CONUSE and to steer the Capability Change Planning process. Applied Concepts will also inform the Defence Programme and influence Policy by setting the context for future operations and will be controlled by the DCDC.