Samenvatting

Defence supply chains (SC) are increasingly geared towards expeditionary operations. Organized on a short notice, they support the theatre in a flexible and efficient manner, relying on limited resources and sourcing from multiple suppliers. Defence SC face risks as they are susceptible to disruptions. As a risk subcategory, SC security riskswhich this chapter focuses onconcern intentional, man-made disruptions. Research so far has explored security as a generic concept and pertaining to SCs involving commercial firms. Less attention has been paid to defence SC and organizations. The objective of this chapter is to give insight into the management of SC security risks (as part of the planning and mission management process) within defence organizations. To this end, the role of risk management and adaptive capability are introduced and synthesized. Military logistic planning processes then embed these concepts in the defence context, leading to operational military SC security risk management. A short empirical study at the Dutch Directorate of Operations Joint Staff J4 unit and long-term experiences in military logistics of the first author substantiate our conceptual findings. The chapter concludes with directions for future research: multiple-supplier strategy, creation of an adaptive operational SC network and information-based SC transparency. These network-level initiatives complement nation-based defence SC management, contributing to SC adaptivity and efficiency.