Recommendation 27

The Department told us that its approach to whole-life costs gave it the right cost information for the management decisions it needs to make. It argued that coming up with a whole life cost out to 2069 was not helpful for budgeting because the Defence budget deals with much shorter timeframes and planning assumptions such as the variant mix of future purchases are yet to be firmly decided upon. The Department acknowledged that the whole-life cost it has ultimately come up with does not include all costs associated with the F-35. It argued that this was reasonable, claiming that some costs, such as fuel, would be incurred regardless of the F-35 programme. We believe that the Department’s approach does not best support sound financial management over the long term. 52 Qq 68-69 53 Q 79 54 C&AG’s Report, para 3.15 55 Qq 69-70, 77 56 Letter from MoD to PAC, 25 September 2025 57 C&AG’s Report, para 3.29 58 Letter from MoD to PAC, 25 September 2025 59 Q 97; C&AG’s Report, para 3.34 15 Future procurement