UK MoD accused of wasting billions
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has squandered billions of pounds through ill-judged acquisition decisions, including some £5 billion to dispose of its Nimrod MRA4 and Sentinel capabilities in order to balance the defence budget, a new report has revealed.
A forecast £36 million ‘black hole’ resides over the defence budget over a ten-year period, according to the Major Projects 2010 report, released by the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts on 22 February.
The 15 largest military projects were covered in the report. Although the report stated that 13 of the 15 projects performed well over the past
Our news & analysis is now part of Defence Insight®
A Basic-level or higher Defence Insight subscription is now required to view this content.
More from Defence Notes
-
SOF Week 2026: US military tests AI algorithm to support missions in low-light scenarios
The US Army and USAF are evaluating an AI-enabled imaging capability from Deepnight designed to enhance low-light and no-light operations across multiple platforms and environments.
-
Industrial capacity under scrutiny as US approves further $8.6 billion Middle East arms sale
The fast-tracked emergency approvals come as the conflict in the Middle East stretches out into its third month, after Iranian attacks depleted US allies’ missile stockpiles and testing air defence systems.
-
Intelligence innovation: From data overload to decision advantage (Podcast)
As militaries face an overwhelming flow of data, the challenge is shifting from collection to delivering fast, actionable insights that drive decision-making. Advances in AI and data integration are helping armed forces move beyond siloed systems to generate real-time intelligence across domains and allies.
-
SAHA 2026 to Convene the Global Defence Ecosystem
SAHA 2026 brings global defence and aerospace leaders to Istanbul for partnerships, launches, panels and high-value meetings.
-
Teledyne FLIR adds GPS-denied 3D-mapping capabilities to its CBRN uncrewed platforms
In a partnership with Emesent, Teledyne FLIR will equip its autonomous air, ground and detection systems with the Hovermap LiDAR payload in a move that highlights a broader market shift towards modular architectures, shared payloads and interoperability across platforms.
-
US seeks 32% boost for missile defence budget with $23 billion earmarked for interceptors
The Pentagon’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year includes an impressive increase in the procurement of interceptors, with the number of the US Army’s PAC-3 MSE rounds expanding by 683%, the US Navy’s Standard Missile by 365% and the MDA’s SM-3 IIA by more than 1,000%.
