Recommendation 9

The Department had told the NAO that it considered initial operating capability achievable by the end of June 2021, but in our public evidence session, witnesses could not tell us when some sort of capability will be secured, even in broad terms.23 The Department told us it has commissioned an external review of the Department’s route to full operating capability in 2025 and committed to write to us once it had a clearer understanding on timescales.24 The Minister for Defence Procurement told Parliament that, as at September 2021, it was not possible to set a realistic timescale for the vehicles’ entry into operational service.25