The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been accused of a “gold standard cock-up” by a government minister over eight helicopters which have cost £422m but have never flown.
Commons Public Accounts Committee Chairman Edward Leigh says the eight Chinooks have been “languishing” while troops in Afghanistan needed aircraft.
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“The Ministry of Defence’s programme to make airworthy the eight Chinook Mk3 helicopters, which it acquired in 2001 for special operations work, has been a gold standard cock-up,” he says.
“Nearly seven years since they were delivered, the Chinook Mk3s are still languishing in climate-controlled hangers – despite the fact that they are desperately needed on operations in Afghanistan.”
In 1995, the MoD ordered 14 Chinook Mk2a helicopters from Boeing at a cost of £259m.
Eight of the choppers were modified to the more advanced Mk3 model to meet a long-standing demand for machines suitable for special operations.
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By GlobalDataHowever, after delivery in 2001, it emerged that there were problems with the avionics software and the helicopters fell short of the UK’s military airworthiness standards.
As a result, they have never flown operationally.
The MoD says it is confident they will be ready for operation from the end of 2009.
By Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh
