Defence chiefs have thrown away £113million on fruitless schemes, it has emerged, as the threat from Iran exposes the UK’s vulnerability.
The shocking waste of taxpayers’ cash was revealed in a Ministry of Defence report amid fears that Britain is desperately short of troops, ships and fighting equipment as global tensions increase.
The losses includes an AS90 Howitzer cancelled at a cost of over £50million because commanders decided they no longer needed that type of weapon.
A further £15million went on an RAF Tornado jet flight simulator that was cancelled as the jet came out of service.
Over £24million was lost on “book-keeping adjustments”, which were not explained, and more than £12million on two remote-controlled aircraft used by a new Royal Artillery air defence regiment.
In another breathtaking waste, military chiefs ordered Ajax ambulances to support Britain’s new military Strike Brigades, then cancelled the order at a cost of over £6million in penalties.
Over £4million was squandered on “unused travel bookings” and £3.5million on unrecovered expenses and salary overpayments too difficult to recoup.
It comes amid fears over terrorism, Russia, China and Iran.
The Iran threat, which reached boiling point after they seized a British-flagged tanker in a tit-for-tat attack, has exposed the UK’s vulnerability after a decade of Tory cuts.
Col Richard Kemp, ex-commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: “£113million is excessive by any standard. We just have to look at our failure to protect shipping in the Gulf to see the glaring holes in our defences.”
The report lists losses from “closed cases over £300,000”.
A senior defence source said: “Someone has to be held to account.”
The MoD said: “As part of managing the £38billion defence budget, we were required to write off a small number of losses last year due to strategic decisions made to secure the right equipment and a number of incidents outside of our control.”
