Five out of 21 major Australian defence projects have seen "slippage" in their schedules in the past year, a new audit report has found.
The auditor-general examined major projects totalling $58 billion, or just under half of the total budget of current major and minor defence capital equipment projects.
Slippage refers to a delay in the latest forecast date compared to the original government approved date of "final operational capability".
The total slippage in 2020/21 was 405 months - 102 months lower than that reported in the 2019/20 major projects review.
The difference between the two years was mainly due to the exit of projects with significant slippage, including the AWD ships, P-8A Poseidon, Growler and Collins submarine reliability and sustainability projects.
The audit found slippage in the MRH90 Helicopters, MQ-4C Triton aircraft, Light Tactical Fixed Wing, Civil Military Air Traffic Management System, and the Battlespace Communications System Land 2B.
Only the communication system slippage was put down to COVID-19 related issues.
