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The UK government has hired the former boss of satellite operator Inmarsat to fix defence procurement as it attempts to deliver on ambitious promises to drive economic growth through increased military spending.

Rupert Pearce, who led Inmarsat for nine years until 2021, on Tuesday will take on the newly created role of national armaments director, which comes with one of the British government’s highest-ever salaries.

The position is a key part of the government’s plans to fix military procurement in the UK, where billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money have been wasted on equipment that is late and over budget. 

The NAD will be a “cornerstone of defence reform, positioning the UK to meet evolving global threats whilst making defence an engine for growth in communities across the nation”, said defence secretary John Healey. 

He added that Pearce, who has not previously worked for a defence company, would ensure the UK’s forces have “the equipment they need, on time and on budget”.

The role is intended to reduce waste in the UK’s more than £60bn a year defence budget, streamline the Ministry of Defence and buy more from smaller, cutting-edge companies

The appointment comes as the UK has pledged to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, up from 2.3 per cent at present, in just two years’ time, responding to pressure from US President Donald Trump on Nato countries.

The increase will be the biggest sustained rise in UK defence spending since the end of the cold war, but defence industry executives have criticised what they say is the slow pace of reform.

Several have warned that the government’s promise to make Britain “battle-ready” was still falling short of reality, and that much of the promised extra spending had yet to materialise.

Industry executives said they were still waiting on details of the government’s procurement priorities, which are expected in the upcoming Defence Investment Plan.

Pearce, who also previously worked at Linklaters and energy company Highview Power, will take over from Andy Start, chief executive of defence equipment and support at the MoD, who has been acting as interim NAD.

His appointment is fixed for five years. Start will stay on to support Pearce in the first few months, the MoD said on Monday. 

Pearce said it was “vital that our Armed Forces have cutting-edge capabilities at their disposal”, promising to transform the MoD’s “relationship with its industrial partners so that the UK defence industry becomes a strategic asset”.

The appointment marks the end of a protracted recruitment process that began last year. The MoD had appointed headhunters Korn Ferry to lead the process and offered a bumper pay package as high as £640,000.

The package consists of £400,000 per year plus an annual bonus of up to 60 per cent.

The initial search, however, ended in failure this summer after one of the shortlisted candidates withdrew.

Pearce’s appointment was made directly following an exception granted by the civil service commission, the MoD said on Monday.