ABSTRACT
Defence procurement – the process by which states acquire goods and services required by their armed forces – forms a significant sub-field of Defence Studies. States confront three perennial defence procurement challenges in ensuring their armed forces are equipped to achieve national security and foreign policy objectives, namely, ‘what equipment to buy’, ‘where to buy equipment from’ and ‘how to buy military equipment at a fair and reasonable price’. This chapter reviews the key academic and policy debates concerning how states resolve these challenges, highlighting the multiple, often conflicting, security and economic goals in their weapons acquisition processes. In doing so, it suggests that the defence procurement sub-field of Defence Studies has a long-term future confronting perennial and novel questions about how and why nation states arm their militaries and ensure their survival.
