UK Plans 166bn Pounds Spend On Aircraft Carriers, Subs

The UK Ministry of Defence has published its latest equipment plan for spending 166 billion Pounds on new equipment including aircraft carriers and submarines over the next decade.

The Spending plan is a part of a stable base for the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) of the UK Ministry of Defense

The ministry has published the third annual update on Defence Equipment Plan after an independent audit found the cost of the department’s 13 biggest equipment programmes fell by 247m pounds last year.

The National Audit Office (NAO) published its assessment of the affordability of both the plan and the MOD’s Major Projects Report – a review of a sample of key programmes – and found a strong cost and timely delivery performance.

The NAO found that the Equipment Plan is more stable than last year and is set to remain affordable for the rest of the parliament under current conditions.

Across the sample of MOD projects that are included in the Major Projects Report this year, excluding the new decision to accommodate the production of an additional reactor core for HMS Vanguard, this was the best time performance since at least 2001.

“Along with our commitment to increase the defence budget and to meet the NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on Defence, we are ensuring our armed forces have the equipment they need at the best value for the taxpayer.” Philip Dunne, Minister for Defence Procurement, said.

"This is the third consecutive year of improving performance. The 2009 NAO report we inherited recorded £1.2bn in year overspend and 93 months in-year project overruns. By contrast, today’s report for 2014/15 shows an in-year cost reduction of 247m pounds and underlying delivery eight months over forecast - a remarkable turnaround by any standards."  Dunne added.