Great Britain has very high security ambitions

In recent months, British officials have shown significant security ambitions, some exemplified. So in September, before Boris Johnson left 10 Downing Street, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace proudly announced that he wanted to raise Britain’s defense spending to £100bn by the end of the decade and maintain it at 3% of GDP.

Funding for all the projects promised by the British government, be it the Tempest fighter jet, the Type 31 and Type 32 fighter jets, the new type of nuclear submarines or the replacement of the Puma maneuver helicopters is essential.

Since Rishi Sunak came to the helm of the country, a wave of economic realism seems to have swept through UK government departments, including the MoD, which is still in the hands of Ben Wallace.

For example, Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced a few weeks ago that London would honor its commitments and keep its defense spending above 2% of GDP. (PR) exit from the 3% announced in September, with the bulk of previously announced plans being canceled, scaled back or postponed indefinitely.

Thus was born the Type 32 frigate project, designed to compensate for the loss of anti-submarine capabilities in the Royal Navy’s surface fleet. will be introduced over several yearsProbably not before the end of this decade. Additional A400M strategic aircraft are expected from the Royal Air Forceare simply abandoned.

As for the Ajax project, it remains a mystery as remedial measures to address vibration and noise problems have so far been unsatisfactory, while neither Lockheed-Martin nor the UK MoD want to be blamed for the contract termination.

However, across the Channel there is an independent body that audits public finances, the National Audit Office, or NAO, equivalent to courses in France.

Ed The results of its latest report As for the financial sustainability of defense projects implemented by the UK government, particularly serious and unassailable: with current budgetary developments, it is impossible to fund all ongoing projects under the UK Ministry of Defense 2022-2032 equipment plan.

And to add to that:This gear scheme is very dysfunctionalIt positions itself as a world benchmark for borrowing and burning.

To come to this dire conclusion, NOA examined the approximately 1800 equipment and infrastructure projects described in the 2022-2032 Equipment Plan for their applicability and, importantly, their budget accuracy. There, the floor hurts.

In fact, many programs have been artificially restructured to respect public budget constraints, for example by excluding certain expenditures or aspects that still fit into the Defense Department budget. In fact, many of the projects listed are presented with fictitious budgets that require drastic revisions to turn triangles into squares.

For example, the E-7 Wedgetail air patrol aircraft programme, originally funded at £2bn for 5 aircraft, had to be reduced to 3 aircraft, not to mention that this reduction allowed the cost to be reduced to £1.55bn, ultimately costing between £2.6bn and £2.8bn.

The NOA report found a gap of £6 billion a year between budget planning for equipment and infrastructure projects and their potential implementation, without taking into account the more significant impact of inflation in the coming years.

According to NOA, this observation forces the British Ministry of Defense to constantly review its planning, which will significantly reduce the cost of significant additional costs and investments, and ultimately affect the effectiveness of the British military apparatus.

Britain’s economic prospects in the coming years are far from inspiring an enthusiastic optimist and the new government, led by Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt, appears determined to tidy up the confusing pronouncements of its predecessors in recent years.

Article from December 6, 2022 to July 26, 2023