Commenting on the National Audit Office report on the way that the Ministry of Defence has procured armoured vehicles, South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon said:
“It is an eloquent comment on the poor state of MOD procurement that the most coherent acquisition process is the emergency one. The MoD spent £2.8 billion on badly-needed armoured vehicles for Iraq and Afghanistan through its ‘Urgent Operational Requirements’ process. This spending was necessary and successful, but when the right equipment at the right price can only been obtained in a crisis, something has gone badly wrong”.
“The MoD has stopped so many armoured vehicle projects since 1998 that it will be 2024-25 before the UK’s armed forces have all the vehicles they need. Since 1998, £718 million has been spent on armoured vehicle projects that have been delayed, suspended or axed altogether. The MoD was determined that its new armoured vehicles should be designed around the very latest technologies, but such advanced technologies are still some way off and the MoD’s refusal to compromise on its vision of high-tech tanks has caused serious delays.
“The end result is that Britain’s Armed Forces simply do not have the armoured vehicles they were promised, even after a decade of waiting, and they are unlikely to get them until 2024 at the earliest. If Britain’s Armed Forces are to be as capable, flexible and mobile as the Government wants, then the MoD needs to get its act together and fast”.
20 May 2011
NAO REPORT: The cost-effective delivery of armoured vehicle capability
PARLIAMENT:MoD kit blunders letting down our troops, says MP PARLIAMENT: Treating troops properly saves money, says MP PARLIAMENT: Iraq-bound troops forced to 'scavenge' kit PARLIAMENT: MP pays tribute to Reserve Forces
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