Ministry of Defence blows £15million on simulator for RAF Tornado jet

Defence officials wasted more than £15million on the purchase of an RAF Tornado simulator – even though the aircraft was retired from service.

A further £4million was spent on unused travel bookings last year, a report on military spending errors has revealed.

The figures are part of a £100million bill taxpayers have been left to pick up for redundant equipment, written-off contracts and scrapped projects by the military.

The waste in an already cash-strapped department ranges from front-line armoured vehicles to ‘unrecoverable expenses’. 

Termed ‘fruitless payments’, the details are revealed in the Ministry of Defence’s annual report and accounts, which contains a number of huge losses.

The report – pushed out quietly in the days before the parliamentary recess – will be embarrassing for those in the MoD, especially military chiefs who are privately appealing for billions more in funding. 

The ‘Tornado synthetic training contract’ was terminated early because the retirement date for the Tornado GR4 aircraft was changed. The original contract was signed in 1999, defence sources said.

Among the list of blunders in the report is an entry showing that commanders authorised payments of £4.2million on unused travel bookings and more than £3million on military allowances which they regard as not recoverable.

Military chiefs had ordered the new Ajax ambulance as part of a family of armoured vehicles to support new rapid-reaction Strike Brigades and then paid a penalty of £6.2million to cancel the order.

Other losses include more than £24million on ‘bookkeeping adjustments’ which are not explained and more than £12million on two remote-controlled aircraft for a new Royal Artillery air defence regiment.

Details of shocking losses of equipment is also chronicled. These include a landing craft, valued at £500,000, which caught fire; a £2million loss to damaged medical stores; and specialist equipment costing £321,000 lost on operations by a fighter aircraft.

The ‘Tornado synthetic training contract’ was terminated early because the retirement date for the Tornado GR4 aircraft (above) was changed. The original contract was signed in 1999, defence sources said

Also included is £50million – listed as a ‘constructive loss’ – on the reduction of the Army’s only tracked artillery, called AS90.

The total bill for what the MoD calls ‘closed cases over £300,000’ is listed at £133million.

A former senior officer said: ‘The nature of the military is that there will always be some losses but the scale here – £133million – is truly alarming. It questions the competence of those involved.’

An MoD spokesman said: ‘As part of managing the £38billion defence budget, we were required to write off a small number of losses due to strategic decisions made to secure the right equipment and a number of incidents outside of our control.

‘We remain committed to delivering game-changing capabilities for our Armed Forces while delivering value for money for the taxpayer.’