Veil of secrecy after MoD axes £17bn of kit

THE Ministry of Defence has admitted it has scrapped and offloaded more than £17 billion of equipment since 2008.

However, ministers have refused to say how much money the MoD has recouped by selling off kit to foreign governments.

The value of assets disposed of by the MoD has rocketed from £2.5bn in 2008-9 to £3.2bn in 2009-10, and a massive £11.4bn in 2010-11.

The 2010-11 sum, following the Strategic Defence and Security Review in late 2010, was equivalent to 29 per cent of the UK’s total £39.5bn spending on defence that year.

Scrapping of “single-use” military equipment accounted for the biggest hike, rising from £650 million in 2008-9 to £1.6bn in 2009-10 and £7.5bn in 2010-11.

Last year, nine new Nimrod MRA4 spy planes worth £4bn alone were scrapped.

Britain also retired its joint force of 74 Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Harrier jets in 2010, which it then sold to the US Marine Corps for just £110m.

The disposal figures emerged in a parliamentary question from the Scottish National Party’s defence spokesman Angus Robertson.

Mr Robertson said: “We need to look very closely at this disposal because the stated value of the assets does not mean that the MoD has actually recovered that amount of money.

“The scrapped Nimrod programme is the ultimate example. But it is not just assets that we are losing, but operational capabilities as well. Without Nimrod we now have very limited maritime reconnaissance capabilities.”

Marshal of the RAF Lord Craig branded the decision to axe the planes to save money “perverse”.

US Rear Admiral Mark Heinrich, chief of the US Navy’s supply corps, said buying the Harriers made sense because many of the jets had recently undergone a refit.

He said: “We’re taking advantage of all the money the Brits have spent on them. It’s like we’re buying a car with maybe 15,000 miles on it. These are very good platforms. And we’ve already got trained pilots.”

The MoD insisted that the sale of the Harriers was “a good deal for both countries” and that scrapping them would release £900m by 2018.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond last month announced that defence cuts had plugged a yawning £38bn funding gap.

He said the MoD’s budget was back in balance for the “first time in a generation” after “agonising choices” made by MoD bosses and military chiefs.