Military kit crisis as 36 MOD projects veer off track
Report warns successful delivery of Ajax armoured vehicles and Crowsnest radar may be unachievable
THE escalating crisis in military procurement has been exposed in an official analysis of defence projects worth £166bn that revealed none was rated “green”, defined as being on time, on budget and meeting expectations.
Analysis of 36 projects ranging from the £6.4bn Ajax armoured vehicle, which is running years late and giving vibration injuries and hearing damage to soldiers during testing, to the £31bn Dreadnought programme to replace the Navy’s Trident submarines reveals a host of delays, problems and budget overruns.
The report by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has given ammunition to critics who claim the Ministry of Defence’s procurement system is not fit for purpose and needs overhauling.
They say this needs to be done to protect not only taxpayers, but military staff who are getting equipment that is late, not up to the job or in reduced quantities because of budget overruns.
Mark Francois, an MP on the defence select committee, said: “These independently assessed figures show once and for all just how broken the Mod’s procurement system really is.”
The IPA report rates programmes from “green” to “red”. A red rating means “successful delivery appears unachievable”, with issues such as “cost, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which do not appear to be manageable or resolvable”. “Amber/ green” ratings mean success is “probable” but requires “constant attention”, “amber” denotes a project is “feasible but has significant issues”, while “amber/red” signals “successful delivery of the project is in doubt, with major risks or issues in key areas”.
The IPA put a red warning on two projects, Ajax and the long-delayed Crowsnest early warning radar fitted to helicopters protecting the Navy’s new aircraft carriers.
Amber/red ratings were given to 12 programmes, including the RAF’S Poseidon and Wedgetail reconnaissance jets, Protector drones and the future stealth fighter programme, the Navy’s next generation of support ships and autonomous mine-hunting vessels, along with cross-service IT and communications programmes.
A further 14 projects were rated Amber, including modernising the Army’s tanks, the Dreadnought submarine replacements and Navy’s new frigates, along with the long-delayed A400M transport aircraft.
Only four are amber/green: the Army’s “Boxer” troop transports, a support programme to operate naval bases, a new military air traffic control system and force-wide digital communications system.
A further four were unrated for national security reasons, including IT and cryptology projects and work on new nuclear warheads.
An MOD spokesman said: “This report reflects the complexity and scale of delivering the most advanced government procurement programmes and we strive to improve the ratings of major defence projects… We are committed to improving the speed and simplicity of defence procurement.”