Revealed: New army attack vehicles are too big to fit in the planes that will get them to warzones and our ships 'sound like a box of spanners' and can be heard by Russian subs 100 MILES away
- The nay's six Type 45 destroyers, which cost £1billion each, are 'as noisy as hell'
- The Ajax tank has to be dismantled before it is transported by air in the A400m
- And 54 reconnaissance drones have not been used since order 12 years ago
- MoD defended blunders by saying defence budget is the biggest in Europe
The Ministry of Defence was criticised last night for leaving Britain vulnerable to attack due to a series of equipment blunders.
New army attack vehicles are too big to fit in the planes that will get them to warzones and our ships and can be heard by Russian submarines 100 miles away, it has emerged.
Rear Admiral Chris Parry described the navy's Type 45 destroyers, which cost £1billion each, as sounding like 'a box of spanners' underwater.
Rear Admiral Chris Parry described the navy's Type 45 destroyers, which cost £1billion each, as sounding like 'a box of spanners' underwater
He said they were 'noisy as hell' and slammed the MoD for not 'thinking about the anti-submarine element'.
They also suffer frequent engine problems which cause them to break down in warm seas despite being designed to function between 50C and -20C.
All six are having new diesel generators installed which involves cutting a hole in the side of the ships and will take around nine years.
Meanwhile, the Army's Ajax tanks, which cost £3.5bn each, can't fit on board the A400m transport aircraft without needing to be dismantled.
This means they have to be accompanied by a crane which removes they five-tonne side plates to reduce their weight before the flight.
The Army's Ajax tanks, which cost £3.5bn each, can't fit on board the A400m transport aircraft without needing to be dismantled
The A400m transport aircraft which cannot fit the Ajax tank without it being altered by a crane before the flight
The Army's 54 Watchkeeper reconnaissance drones, which were ordered at a cost of £1.2bn 12 years ago, have still not entered full service due to technical glitches.
And concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of nine new P-8 Poseidon aircraft, which the MoD is considering buying for £2.6billion from the US.
They hunt for enemy submarines by dropping buoys in the sea but reports doubt if the censor systems on board work properly and they could be vulnerable to cyber attack.
The navy also proposed 13 new Type 26 frigates, but this figure has fallen to eight after navy chiefs increased their cost by insisting a Chinook helicopter should be able to land on deck.
Parry, a former Ministry of Defence (MoD) director of operational capability, said the navy had made a grave mistake with the Type 45 destroyers, which are vulnerable to Russia's new Kilo-class submarines, dubbed the Black Hole due to their silence.
Concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of nine new P-8 Poseidon aircraft, which the MoD is considering buying for £2.6billion from the US
The Army's 54 Watchkeeper reconnaissance drones, which were ordered at a cost of £1.2bn 12 years ago, have still not entered full service due to technical glitches
He told the Sunday Times: 'We used to put little wooden wedges between the hatchclips and the hatches in my destroyer to stop them rattling so we could keep the noise down.'
'We have forgotten all about it — it's crazy. Noise suppression has been probably the biggest dirty secret since the end of the Cold War that people have been cheerfully ignoring.'
General Sir Richard Barrons urged the government to 're-bench' the armed forces in the face of a resurgent Russia, as experts warned the 'mutlimillion-pound blackhole' in funding has not been filled.
An MOD spokesperson did not comment directly on the blunders but said: 'Britain's defence budget is the biggest in Europe and it is growing every year, we are investing £178 billion as the UK steps up globally.
'We are focused on maintaining an affordable programme and getting the best value for the taxpayer to deliver the cutting-edge kit our Armed Forces need to keep Britain safe.'
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