More than £2 billion is being wasted by the Ministry of Defence every year on equipment programmes, an independent report disclosed yesterday.
Bernard Gray, former special adviser at the MoD and author of the scathing review of equipment-procurement methods, also accused the Armed Services of trying to outbid each other with increasingly sophisticated equipment projects that were unaffordable.
He called for private sector management to be drafted in to get to grips with the MoD’s cost overruns and programme delays.
Mr Gray’s report will anger frontline servicemen and their families, who complain that the Afghanistan campaign is being hampered by a shortage of equipment and cutbacks in the defence budget.
However, within hours of the publication of his report, which was commissioned by the MoD, his main recommendation was rejected.
Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, acknowledged that the report by Mr Gray highlighted “shortcomings”. But he dismissed the idea of bringing in private management experts to form a special partnership with the MoD.
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