Recommendation 26

Faced with an unaffordable programme, we questioned the Department’s ability to achieve value for money from its equipment expenditure. We have seen many examples of the Department not buying the quantity of kit or the number of capabilities that it originally intended to buy; such as Typhoons or destroyers.74 The Department acknowledged that, historically, it has bought capabilities with sophisticated rather than utilitarian specifications, although it pointed to the Type 31 acquisition as an example of purchasing a more flexible capability.75 It also acknowledged that in newer domains, such as cyber and space, its procurement procedures are too slow and have not allowed it to respond to the rapid pace of change on new technologies.76