MOD rebuked for ‘unacceptable incompetence’ after massive blunder | UK | News
Ministry of Defense (MoD) faces severe criticism for ‘half-baked approach’ (Image: UK MOD Crown copyright)
Britain’s state-of-the-art stealth jets are being deployed to a potential flashpoint in the Middle East without enough spare parts to maintain operations, a damning report has revealed. Worrying global conflict concerns have increased after it was revealed that a Royal Navy aircraft carrier had been sent to the region carrying twice the number of F-35B Lightning jets it had in service.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has come under severe criticism from angry MPs for its “half-baked approach” and “completely unacceptable incompetence”. A letter from Ministry of Defense Permanent Secretary Jeremy Pocklington has revealed how 24 of the advanced, missile-equipped fighter jets were packed onto a Queen Elizabeth-class carrier for Operation HIGHMAST.
According to the UK Defense Journal, the spare parts stock on board was only sufficient to support 12 aircraft. Military commanders were forced to urgently request supplies from RAF Marham in Norfolk and deplete other emergency reserves to keep the £100 million jets operational.
The mistake prompted a harsh rebuke from Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.
He said: “Military planning is based on solid logistics. Britain sent an aircraft carrier with 24 F-35 fighter jets to the Middle East, but it did not have enough spare parts to support them.”
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“Twelve aircraft spare parts packages were sent to service twenty-four aircraft and as a result it is no surprise that spare parts had to be sent from RAF Marham to make up the difference.”
He warned that British forces should not be exposed by senior military leadership at a time when global tensions are reaching boiling point.
Sir Geoffrey said: “In an increasingly dangerous world, our military and our country need more than this half-baked approach from the Ministry of Defence.
“Our brave warrior men and women must be absolutely certain that they are well supported in equipment, with open and reliable supply lines, before venturing into possible danger.
Missile-carrying warplanes are crammed onto a Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“But these cables show completely unacceptable incompetence that runs counter to any sensible planning by the Ministry of Defence.”
The deployment left the UK’s fleet struggling with a backlog of maintenance issues.
The Ministry of Defense has acknowledged that disruptions to the global supply chain mean future targets are impossible to achieve.
To make matters worse, multimillion-pound aircraft suffer from corrosion due to exposure to salty sea air.
Military bosses forced to desperately buy supplies from RAF Marham in Norfolk (Image: RAF Marham)
Engineers are now grappling with a huge maintenance backlog to fix the problem, resulting in a short-term decline in the number of aircraft available for operations.
The army also faces a serious manpower shortage. Lightning Force currently lacks a quarter of the required number of engineers because RAF Marham is seen as a “less desirable posting location”.
The RAF has acknowledged it will take until 2032 to recruit sufficient numbers of fully qualified mechanics at the base. The Ministry of Defense was also forced to urgently purchase American bombs as an interim solution to ensure that the F-35s had sufficient missile capability before the long-awaited British SPEAR-3 cruise missiles became operational.
