Recommendation 20

The Department agreed a fixed-price contract for Crowsnest in November 2016 with Lockheed Martin, which sub-contracted delivery of the project to Thales and Leonardo Helicopters. From the very start the Department regarded the project as a very high risk, having assessed that industry might not be able to deliver the initial capability. Between 2016 and 2018 there were numerous problems with the project, which led to the Department raising its concerns with its industry partners and introducing measures to manage the risk. The Department told us that in October 2018 it had become aware that the milestones were not being met as they should be and that some were missed. Nevertheless, it assessed that the project was deliverable through to December 2018.49