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More people are now joining the armed forces than leaving for the first time in years but the Ministry of Defence does not know whether its own measures drove the improvement or whether it can be sustained.
The PAC has criticised the Ministry of Defence for placing unrealistic demands on how soldiers operate Ajax and has demanded to know how much the long-troubled programme will ultimately cost.
With nuclear programmes now consuming 18 per cent of the defence budget, the Public Accounts Committee says their costs are too opaque for Parliament to challenge, and has welcomed an agreement to set up a mechanism for closer scrutiny.
The Public Accounts Committee says years without a credible long-term investment plan have weakened the UK's deterrent and has demanded the Ministry of Defence explain how it is shielding suppliers from the harm caused by the delay.
The Public Accounts Committee has called it "completely unacceptable" that the Ministry of Defence could not properly account for more than £6bn of assets, an error tied to historic Atomic Weapons Establishment spending.
The Public Accounts Committee has delivered a stinging assessment of the Ministry of Defence's 2024-25 accounts, warning that years without a credible long-term plan have damaged the UK's credibility with allies and industry.
A former chief of the defence staff has suggested in the House of Lords that the wealth of Gulf allies such as the UAE might be tapped to help get the UK's delayed Defence Investment Plan over the line.
The Ministry of Defence intends to award a two-year, £12 million contract to keep the Royal Navy's Seafox mine disposal system in service, the underwater vehicle used by its Hunt and Sandown class vessels to find and destroy sea mines.
Graeme Downie MP has warned the UK must move away from "slow, traditional cycles" ahead of a parliamentary roundtable examining closer industrial collaboration with Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defence intends to award Heckler & Koch a ten-year contract worth around GBP 70 million to supply L7A2 general-purpose machine guns and associated equipment to the British armed forces.
