Hoon 'put troops in danger'

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon is today accused of placing frontline troops in danger because of "woeful" delays to deliveries of vital equipment.

A scathing report by the Commons defence committee said the armed forces - described as "overstretched and understaffed" - were being let down by "endemic and systemic" failings by the Ministry of Defence,

Ministers had promised its new "smart acquisition" policy would result in a cheaper, better and faster system for buying new weapons and kit.

The MPs said changes had failed to bring improvements. They said the MoD claim that smart acquisition had saved ?2billion was unreliable.

Far from saving money, cost overruns for the last year alone were ?3billion, the committee said. "The performance by the Defence Procurement Agency in 2002-2003 can only be described as woeful," the MPs concluded.

"We are forced to conclude that our armed forces have been let down by the organisation

tasked with equipping them."

Their findings come less than a week after Mr Hoon announced major cuts to make at least ? 2billion worth of savings.

More than 20,000 jobs, 14 Royal Navy ships and the RAF's fleet of Jaguar planes will be axed. Mr Hoon justified the cuts, saying it was necessary to get rid of older equipment as new projects come on stream.

But the defence committee said the MoD had been too optimistic in announcing dates that new equipment would be in service.

The MPs expressed concern that a series of major new projects may not be delivered on time, including the new Navy's new aircraft carriersand the RAF's Eurofighters. Other purchases facing cost overruns and delays include:

The committee said that without changes to defence procurement the armed forces face further unacceptable cuts, delays and cancellations. It said there was a "culture of fear" at the Defence Procurement Agency that had seen officials not reporting the full extent of the problems they faced. Bruce George, the committee chairman, said: "Our armed forces are having to deal with many new security challenges in conditions where they are already over overstretched and understaffed. The last thing they need to worry about is whether or not critical equipment will turn up on time or at all."

In a damning assessment of the MoD's performance, the MPs said: "Its objectives were to procure equipment faster, cheaper, better. On almost all counts, it has failed to deliver.

"This means that our armed forces are still not getting the equipment they need when they need it."