A former British military officer shared details with Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems, as it attempted to bid for a contract with the British Defense Ministry (MoD) worth £2 billion, a whistleblower alleged in a dossier discussed in The Times on Friday.
The dossier, seen by the outlet, was handed to MoD, and appeared to show how Brigadier Philip Kimber attended key meetings at the British subsidiary of Elbit within weeks of leaving the army.
During the meetings, Kimber allegedly sat out of view of a camera, and declared that he "should not be there," while discussing how to win a major training contract that he led when he held a role within MoD.
An investigation, which was delayed by months, resulted in MoD ruling that Elbit gained no commercial advantage and could continue to participate in the bid for the lucrative contract.
However, The Times attempted to contact MoD, who were unable to clarify whether it found Elbit had breached government rules.
The dossier referred to 19 incidents where the whistleblower claimed that Kimber joined such meetings, including highlighting emails, WhatsApp conversations, and calendar invites that referred to his involvement and conversations regarding the bid.
The contract under bid would involve a 15-year training agreement for the Army Collective Training Service, formerly known as CTTP, aiming to overhaul army training so that soldiers are prepared to fight a war against militaries such as Russia, the outlet reported.
"This is not like buying a piece of kit, it’s the army sharing its crown jewels so it is ready to fight a war against Russia," a source who has seen the dossier told the outlet.
The former officer had signed a business appointments letter, which stated that he “will not be involved in CTTP until an agreed ‘cooling-off period’ has elapsed”, an MoD source told The Times. This "cooling-off period" expired in June 2023, the report clarified.
Under the conditions of this letter, Kimber was allegedly told that he "should not provide advice to any company or organisation on the terms of, or with regard to the subject matters of, a bid or contract relating directly to the work of the MoD or its trading funds."
In addition, he could not use "any information available to you from your time in Crown Service which could be reasonably perceived to give them an unfair advantage over any competition they may have."
Elbit's British subsidiary told MoD that Kimber was working in another part of the company during this period, and that the bidding process for CTTP had not started until after his "cooling-off period" had ended, the report noted.
This, however, appears to be disputed by the information presented in the dossier, which indicates that Kimber was involved in CTTP contract discussions during the period.
Elbit's British subsidiary said that it "follows the requirements and procedures advised by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (which regulates the revolving door between those in public office and subsequent private earnings) regarding our employees who have served in the UK armed forces."
MoD also responded, stating that "The individual was not employed by the army at the time of the contract advert, pre-qualification questionnaire or invitation to negotiate. The competition for the army’s Collective Training Transformation Programme remains ongoing and no commercial advantage has been gained by any company. We follow strict procurement protocols to ensure fairness, value for taxpayers, and adherence to regulations."
Who is Brigadier Philip Kimber?
Kimber served as CTTP programme director until June 2022, and spent three decades in the British military, ending his service in September 2022.
He was recruited by Elbit in October 2022, The Times noted.
The closing date for tender applications on the bid was September 7, 2023, and Kimber's restrictions applied up to June 26, 2023, the report clarified. However, other standard restrictions remained until September 23, 2023, it added.
Kimber emailed Elbit's British subsidiary's CEO, Martin Fausset, in November 2022, before the latter held a meeting with Mike Cooper, the official responsible for the MoD programme. In the email, seen by The Times, Kimber told Fausset that one of Cooper's "guiding principles" for CTTP was "choice," and that Cooper believed that the Future Collective Training System, a technology-based training system being developed under the programme, must give the army “as much choice as possible in the design and execution of its collective training."
Further, in a November 2022 WhatsApp conversation, Kimber said it "would be good to chat about possible teaming approaches," the report added. The term "teaming approaches" likely refers to Elbit identifying companies to join a group bid proposal, the report clarified.
Elbit's British subsidiary has come under attack from pro-Palestinian activists, including Palestine Action, for its role in providing munitions, particularly UAVs, to the IDF in order to be used in the Israel-Hamas war.