Report blasts defence buying

LONDON - The British Government's record on protecting its troops serving in Afghanistan has been called into question by a scathing report revealing failures in buying defence equipment.

A leaked report found evidence of "endemic" problems, with projects spiralling £35 billion ($84.29 billion) over budget and running five years late. It says enemies such as the Taleban "are unlikely to wait for our sclerotic acquisition systems to catch up".

The highly critical findings will fuel the controversy over whether British lives are being put at risk in Afghanistan by a lack of equipment. Ministers insist adequate resources are reaching the front line. But Downing St is believed to have shelved publication of the report last month to try to limit the damage when a helicopter shortage was being partly blamed for soldiers' deaths.

Bernard Gray, a former special adviser at the Ministry of Defence, asks in his hard-hitting report: "How can it be that it takes 20 years to buy a ship, or aircraft, or tank? Why does it always seem to cost at least twice what was thought? Even worse, at the end of the wait, why does it never quite seem to do what it was supposed to do?"

His 296-page report on his official inquiry, leaked to the Sunday Times, suggests the average increase in cost while projects are developed is 40 per cent or £300 million.

- INDEPENDENT