- Ministry of Defense announces it will invest £10 billion over ten years in munitions supplies
Grant Shapps was challenged last night over his plan to spend twice as much on yachts as on new bullets for the army’s machine guns.
The Defense Secretary has been called on to explain his proposals to spend almost £8m to replace the MoD’s sailing fleet, but just £4m on these munitions.
Last night, one MP privately mocked the plans, saying: “We’re supposed to show Vladimir Putin how tough we are – not make him laugh.”
The spending plans are outlined in the MoD’s latest ‘procurement pipeline’ proposals for potential contracts worth more than £2m and expected to be published within 18 months.
They include an estimated spend of £4 million on the “restocking” of “7.62 x 35mm ammunition” from December 2025.
Defense Secretary Grant Shapps plans to spend almost £8 million on replacing MoD sailing ships, but only £4 million on munitions.
Mr Shapps was also asked to send gas masks to Ukrainian soldiers, while Russian soldiers use poison gas.
Military sources said the bullets were intended for the army’s main infantry machine gun, which is also carried on light tanks as a secondary weapon for the crew.
However, the acquisition plans also included an estimated £7.8m contract to replace the MoD’s fleet of yachts, starting in January 2025. The MoD maintains a fleet of sailing boats used for training military personnel from the Army, Navy and RAF.
However, government sources said the proposed spending on the replacement yachts was part of a budget exercise for a “future tender and was not confirmed”.
At the end of March, Lieutenant-General Sir Rob Magowan, deputy chief of the defense staff, warned that more money needed to be spent on munitions.
He said Mr Shapps and his military chiefs had told the Prime Minister they needed a bigger budget to better protect the UK.
Last night, Conservative MP and Defense Committee member Mark Francois said: “We urgently need to replenish our munitions stocks, particularly for deterrence purposes. »
Labor MP Emma Lewell-Buck, who also sits on the committee, said: “I’m sure these yachts serve a useful purpose, but it can’t be right to spend more on replacing them than on buying machine gun ammunition. “
A Ministry of Defense spokesperson declined to comment on “individual tender processes” but said it was “investing £10 billion over ten years to develop our national munitions production pipeline and improve stocks.
Mr Shapps was also called to send life-saving gas masks to Ukrainian soldiers after the US claimed Russian forces had now used poison gas in the conflict.
Jos Sclater, chief executive of Wiltshire-based Avon Protection, which supplies protective masks to UK forces, said: “It is now a strategic imperative that we manufacture and supply gas masks to Ukraine. »
dailymail us
