Member News
The RAF has been forced to ground some Typhoon jets due to a lack of spare parts, MPs have found.
In a report published today the Commons public accounts committee said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had also had to cannibalise other fighter planes in order to keep others in the air.
The MPs found that five Typhoon pilots had also been grounded because there was a lack of available aircraft for them to train on. Only eight pilots are trained to carry out ground-attack missions in the air force's newest jet.
"The history of the Typhoon fighter aircraft represents yet another example of over-optimism, bad planning and an unacceptably high bill for the taxpayer," said Margaret Hodge, the chair of the committee.
"The MoD is now buying 30 per cent fewer Typhoon fighter aircraft than originally planned, the cost of the project is now expected to be £3.5bn more than was originally approved and if we take all expenditure into account, the cost of each aircraft has increased by 75 per cent."
Hodge also attacked the MoD for not being able to give a "coherent explanation "of its 2004 decision to equip the early Typhoons with ground-attack capability, or of its subsequent decision not to use it.
She said: "The department could also not adequately explain why it cancelled the third phase of the contract in 2004 on the grounds it did not need the capability, simply to reinstate the third phase in 2009 at a cost of £2.7bn."
"This pattern of decision-making is more about balancing the books in the short-term rather than ensuring value for money over time," Hodge added.
"Reducing the size of the defence budget will require more collaboration with EU partners. If done well, it should deliver cost and military benefits.
"But if not done well, as in the case of Typhoon, it can result in huge delays and spiralling cost increases. The MOD must examine the collaborative projects it has been involved in to understand better the factors contributing to success and failure."
The report comes as Typhoon jets are in action over Libya enforcing the UN backed no-fly zone.
In a letter published in today's Times newspaper David Cameron, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy said it would be an "unconscionable betrayal" of the Libyan people of Nato did not see Gaddafi removed from power.
Article Comments
What an unmitigated shambles! The MOD is unfit for purpose and is run by gnome brains. The government got us into this abject mess because they committed forces to war without resourcing them correctly.
Our enemies and allies must be laughing their socks off at the shenanigans. We are not even a second rate power now - we could probably be bested by Zimbabwe!!
Mike
15th Apr 2011 at 5:30 pm
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.