Defence procurement

The Committee's findings include that the Smart Acquisition procurement programme, introduced by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 1998, has failed to deliver on almost all counts. In 2002-03, the top 20 defence equipment projects experienced in-year cost increases totalling £3.1 billion, as well as time delays on promised delivery dates. The head of the Defence Procurement Agency has found that only one of the seven principles underlying Smart Acquisition has been implemented in full, and a fundamental overhaul of the initiative has been announced. On specific projects, the Committee's findings include that the in-service date for Eurofighter/Typhoon was achieved during 2003, a total of 54 months late; and an assessment phase contract for the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) is to be placed at the end of the year, although there are concerns that the in-service date of 2009 is unrealistic.