Royal Air Force - E-7 Wedgetail
The report states that in March 2019 the MoD signed a contract to purchase five E-7 Wedgetails planes which at the time were already in service with the Royal Australian Airforce and US Air Force. The aircraft had been used during operations in Iraq and Syria by the Americans with a proven capability.
The UK’s initial order for five E-7s was reduced to three in the Defence Command Paper of 2021. The reduction in fleet size, which was a ministerial decision, was likely related to cost, the report summary says, however, the original order of five E-7s was estimated to cost £2.1 billion, while the three E-7s will cost £1.89 billion - partly because the MoD is contractually obligated to buy five associated airborne radars, regardless). Even basic arithmetic would suggest that ordering three E-7s rather than five at some 90% of the original acquisition cost represents extremely poor value for money.
In September 2022, the IOC for the E-7 Wedgetail slipped from 2023 to 2024 but even this date remains subject to still outstanding confirmation of the Full Business Case (FBC). The IOC may now slip into 2025 if the MoD receives its first E-7 in late 2024. According to Boeing, this delay is because of supply chain issues related to Covid-19 and workforce issues. However, DE&S are still negotiating an FBC and associated in-service support contract with Boeing, which should already have been successfully finalised long ago.
This situation is exacerbated by the fact that the Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft, which E-7 is destined to replace, was withdrawn from service shortly after the publication of the original Integrated Review in 2021. This has created an important capability gap, especially in view of the war in Ukraine. Moreover, the three E-7 Wedgetails which the RAF still intends to buy will be absolutely “prize targets” for the air force of any potential adversary. This makes the reduction in planned airframes from five to three appear an even greater false economy, indeed.
The UK's Defence Committee has been appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated public bodies.
The current membership of the board includes:
Tobias Ellwood MP (Conservative, Bournemouth East) (Chair)
Sarah Atherton MP (Conservative, Wrexham)
Robert Courts MP (Conservative, Witney)
Dave Doogan MP (Scottish National Party, Angus)
Richard Drax MP (Conservative, South Dorset)
Mark Francois MP (Conservative, Rayleigh and Wickford)
Kevan Jones MP (Labour, North Durham)
Emma Lewell-Buck MP (Labour, South Shields)
Gavin Robinson MP (Democratic Unionist Party, Belfast East)
John Spellar MP (Labour, Warley)
Derek Twigg MP (Labour, Halton)
This is just one of three case studies the committee has put together for the report to indicate how they believe the UK’s Defence Procurement System is - "is broke — and it’s time to fix it"
The report says "We have discovered a UK procurement system which is highly bureaucratic, overly stratified, far too ponderous, with an inconsistent approach to safety, very poor accountability and a culture which appears institutionally averse to individual responsibility. We agree with the previous conclusions of the Public Accounts Committee from November 2021 that our procurement system is indeed “broken”. We believe the system is now in need of major, comprehensive reform." The report has now gone to the UK government, which has two months to respond.
In a stark warning for the future, the committee concluded "With a war in Europe now raging on the eastern border of Europe, we can no longer afford, strategically, militarily, or financially to continue the broken procurement system which we have been operating, for decades. If we are to keep our nation safe, our adversaries deterred and our allies reassured we now urgently require full-scale reform of the way we be buy and support our fighting equipment."
The RAF said today, a joint vision statement has been signed between the Heads of the Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Airforce, and the United States Air Force, setting out their mutual intent to work collaboratively on the development of their countries' Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft.