The Commons Defence Committee has criticised the Ministry of Defence's "smart acquisition" strategy for failing "on almost all counts" to deliver promised efficiency improvements.

The MPs also described the performance of the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), which acquires equipment for the MoD, as being "woeful".

The scale of projected cost overruns was now so great that the impact could lead to further cuts elsewhere in the forces.

Are our forces adequately equipped? Send us your comments and experiences.

This debate has now closed. Thank you for your comments.

Your comments:

We throw billions of pounds at technology projects Neil Mohr, Bath

The British military has been poorly equipped for years. All the while we throw billions of pounds at technology projects such as the Euro fighter that run over budget, are delivered late, if at all, we buy helicopters that can't fly, guns that can't shoot and radios that don't work. Who are the Muppets that buy this equipment and why are we letting them plan to buy even more advanced and complex projects in the future?
Neil Mohr, Bath

How can the government expect our armed forces to protect us when they don't have the necessary equipment to do so? Why should thousands of men and women put their lives on the line without the equipment needed to defend themselves in battle? I know a group of soldiers who have just come back from Iraq and handed in their notices because they are sick of hearing the government say that they have all the best equipment in the world when clearly they don't have even the basics.
Rachel, Surrey

It's OK we don't need the army, now we the public have our leaflets telling us how to survive terrorist invasion!!
Dan, UK

Time to regroup and move forward with better equipment. But how do we stop the waste of funds by the MOD and its contractors? Should we impose fines on the contactors who go over budget? The world has now changed from the cold war and moved on to "peace keeping". But how much money is the taxpayer prepared to fund these overseas actions?
Bumble, Dartford, UK

We need to make sure our people are safe and have the equipment so they can do their jobs to the absolute best of their ability. In Britain's role today maybe we should spend on upgrading the equipment to the best while cutting down on staff. More than anything we need the top people to think seriously about the part our forces might play over the next decade.
Martin, Llanelli, West Wales

Why don't UK forces units hold fundraisers like open days, jumble sales and raffles Matt Nailon, Bath, UK

Why don't UK forces units hold fundraisers like open days, jumble sales and raffles, or seek corporate sponsorship to raise money for the equipment that they need? That's what nurses have to do in NHS hospitals to get the valuable pieces of life-saving kit that government funding shortfall denies them. I'd certainly contribute some money towards a new tank if my local regiment let me blast a few rounds down the range at their summer f�te!
Matt Nailon, Bath, UK

In WW2 Hitler sent over a thousand planes against Britain's 400 or so, and they couldn't destroy the RAF. Geoff Hoon has destroyed it with a few words - does he have too much control?
, Lancashire, UK

I was a US Marine as were most of my family members. When my father was in Korea half a century ago, they were on the line next to some Brits called the "Dukes" which I believe was short for Duke of York regiment. Good chaps, but the British soldiers usually are. They were poorly supplied and fed but they did have one advantage ... Rum. So for several months during that war, there were regular trading runs whereby the dry American Marines would barter food, spare boots etc for the Duke's rum ration. They especially loved the canned chicken or as they would say tinned white meat chicken. We thought this was a temporary phenomenon brought about by the socialist poverty right after the war, but apparently this poverty still affects Her Majesty's forces years later.
Peter, La Marque, Texas

This is not a new issue. My Father served in the Royal Marines during the Indonesian Confrontation in the early 60's. He has always told me how he and his colleagues had to buy there own kit, and only received 'Jungle Boots' when a prominent visitor came to inspect them, after which they were ordered to hand them back. It seems that our armed forces have a history of being underfunded.
Harry, UK

Doing things late and in a hurry will always cause just the sort of huge cost increases Jamie, UK

One of the biggest problems in the UK Military is the Government's unwillingness to authorise preparatory purchases and deployments until long after the ideal cut-off point. Doing things late and in a hurry will always cause just the sort of huge cost increases the Government is so afraid of.
Jamie, UK

So, after sending our armed forces to Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Bosnia as well as keeping them in Northern Ireland and using them during the Fireman's strike and the Foot and Mouth crisis, Mr Blair decides to cut them? On what rational basis can he justify this? There seems to be no shortage of uses for them, they create jobs directly and indirectly and for once, they seem to be something the UK is good at. Leave them alone New Labour.
Luke Magee, UK

Let's just hope that all the high-tech stuff that the diminished forces will have to rely on in the future will be better than most of the computer systems introduced into Government Departments over the last few years. Again and again they have been criticised as sub-standard, late and over budget. But still the Government doesn't listen and learn and leaves outside contractors to do the work for fat fees. What hope have we got?
Bob, London, England

The last vehicle I drove was a Land Rover built two months before I was born An Ex-Soldier, Sandwell, West Mids

When I quit the Army, the last vehicle I drove was a Land Rover built two months before I was born. I followed an equally old Bedford truck along a motorway while it belched white smoke everywhere because there were no parts to fix the engine. We had to buy our own packs and our own webbing - if we wanted stuff that worked - which was more readily available on Blackbushe Airport market than in Regimental stores. That was ten years ago. Now they're cutting further and they expect things to get BETTER?
An Ex-Soldier, Sandwell, West Mids.

Once Blair is gone, the Americans will no longer run our foreign policy, our international position will improve and we won't NEED such a large military. When you don't go out causing trouble, you don't find yourself in fights. I hope someday our foreign policy is such that we need no military at all!
Johnette, London

If the British Army is to reduce it's size, then the government should be less ambitious with peace keeping. The Force is already being overstretched.
Alex, Kent

The need to deal with shortages allows the British soldier to develop a will and coping strategies Martin, Nottingham

Whilst it cannot be denied that the inefficient spending of the MoD is inexcusable, the need to deal with shortages allows the British soldier to develop a will and coping strategies that other nations' forces lack. However, surely the ability to 'get by' in peacetime should be rewarded with not having to 'get by' in wartime?
Martin, Nottingham

Having spent ten years in a frontline infantry unit I am not surprised that the MOD "Whitehall warriors" have failed us again. Ask anyone in the army and they will not be surprised at these findings. I have every faith that our lap-dog "Whitehall warriors" will continue to throw lives away all in the name of the greasy pole. Thank God they aren't in Iraq.
Philip (Retd-Captain), London

When I left the RAF 5 years ago, the cuts were already biting. Friends still in tell me how much worse it has got. Money to waste but the squadies still have to buy their own gear as the kit supplied is not up to the job. As the old adage goes "Remember, your kit is supplied by the lowest bidder". As it is, less people, more commitments and kit that is not fit for the job, only a complete overhaul can rectify the problems.
Steve, Southend, Essex

Having spent 9 years in the Royal Navy, I have first-hand experience of defence cuts. Ships cannot sail faster than 12 knots due to fuel constraints and our army has become a laughing stock due to lack of equipment. Even after the last Gulf conflict this government will not wake up. It's a shame!
Graham Marcroft, Kent

I went to the Gulf, fought the war, and never got desert boots. The combats arrived a week before we came home. When I asked Ivor Caplin, Minister of State, he said he felt it was merely an aesthetic issue. Would love to send him (and Piers Morgan!) out to spend a few weeks in Southern Iraq...
Serving Sergeant, Hants, UK

So we have troops with rubbish boots, guns, body armour while the guys back at HQ get �800 Aeron (Enron?) chairs? It makes a mockery of the whole system, and with the MoD moving towards a smaller, more technology-driven army, it will mean more things to go wrong... If you want a professional, effective fighting force, you have to spend money on it, but please get the basics of gun and uniform correct before you try turning everyone into Robocop.
David W, Bristol, UK

The Commons Defence committee has confirmed my worst fears Soldier A, London

I'm a serving TA soldier. The Commons Defence committee has confirmed my worst fears. I'm not too impressed at the prospect of being sent to a war zone without the even the basic equipment to defend myself. And as far as procurements goes, I thought we learned (from WWII) that quantity always beats quality. At the moment we have neither.
Soldier A, London

What an absolute joke this government is! Every time I come to work, the demand for weather briefings and other operational weather data vital for flying operations is usually constant. This is because the RAF transport fleet is required to supply and deploy our armed forces all over the world at any time of day in some cases (Blair's policies). With peacekeeping operations in places like Iraq and Afghanistan likely to continue for some time, it beggars belief why this RAF base is even been considered to close.
Anonymous, RAF Lyneham (soon to be closed), UK

It should be made compulsory that every MP whose children are of military age should be enlisted into a front line regiment. I bet there would be no more cut backs or equipment shortages then.
Michael, Nottingham

I am a university student who is looking to join the army after graduating! All these shortages and 'cuts' are not good advertising!!!
Jay, Birmingham

You need a solid foundation to build on! Jack Tar, Portsmouth, UK

Perhaps the fact that American troops in Afghanistan have taken to calling UK troops 'The borrowers' speaks volumes about the situation. It is important to have a technical edge in this Information Age, but you need to have the basics in place to start with. You need a solid foundation to build on!
Jack Tar, Portsmouth, UK

I was a major in the TA and mobilised for the Gulf War. The shortage of kit was appalling. Both my respirator canisters were out of date, I had insufficient "combopens" used to self-treat in the event of nerve agent poisoning and no desert kit at all. When Geoff Hoon told the Commons Defence Select committee that by the time the war started all the troops had all the kit they required he was wrong. I returned home after that statement having received no desert kit at all. The field hospital in which I worked ran out of hand soap. The Red Cross gave us 1000 bars but only after we lied to them telling them it was for humanitarian use only.
David, West Yorkshire

The DPA are classic bungling bureaucrats and should be sacked! I know someone who had to get chemical warfare suits shipped to the Gulf but as we didn't have enough in stock, the DPA tried to purchase several hundreds urgently - not surprisingly the supplier couldn't make that many quickly, plus the same supplier was already working on a large order from the USA placed earlier. Result - not enough CW suits for the troops. Treating our servicemen who put their lives on the line like this is deplorable.
Pete, Birmingham, UK

Is the reason why our defence budget is being spent on high tech equipment at the expense of the basic to keep America happy? We buy from them, so we can continue to be fed the scraps from their table?
Josh, Bristol

I recently left the Royal Navy having completed 35 years service. I could have continued for another five, but became increasingly disillusioned by sanctimonious MPs telling us we are "The best in the world". We knew that, but were never paid as the best, or kitted out as the best.
Tom, Lincoln

My son served as a surgeon in the Iraq war and tells me that at one time they ran out of scalpel blades and had to send a Staff Nurse to Kuwait to buy further supplies. I'll lay a pound to a penny that the civil servants in the MOD didn't go short of anything.
Anonymous

The state of the kit we were issued with was a disgrace Ray, Portsmouth, UK

I served in Iraq with the Royal Marines and the state of the kit we were issued with was a disgrace. Second hand clothes, wrong sizes, wrong type of boots, no toilet tissue and really bad food. I was issued with a rifle that always jammed and we were given 4 bullets to practice on the firing range. Our medical supplies were even worse, all outdated and obsolete. I will fear for my safety and welfare if I ever go to war again.
Ray, Portsmouth, UK

As a soldier from a minority group (Muslim) who the army is trying to attract, I cannot even get food catered for my needs and have to buy my own with the small amount of money given.
Mr Khan, Newcastle, England

I have a friend and neighbour who works as a civilian on a front-line RAF base. If the public was ever to be told of the shortages, and the list of things that our air force could no longer do in an emergency, there would be an outcry. But then, of course, the public is not told. Labour is never so traditional as when it is mismanaging our defences.
Barry, Peterborough, UK

If only we would stop investing in crazy high tech appliances and invested more in the basics. There is a place for digital warfare but for now and in the future it will always be the man in the boots and the rifle.
Tom

Our armed forces, in many cases, are not adequately equipped, but the major blame for this, especially during the recent Iraq War, cannot fall at the MoD's door but rather the Treasury's. If the Treasury funded the forces properly, then they would not have to buy equipment on a just in time basis but rather a just in case one, therefore eliminating problems of the right kit not getting to the right places in time.
Rob, Guernsey, Channel Islands

All the new kit promised never turns up because the money isn't there to buy it David, London

The whole of the MOD finances are terrible. As a serving soldier the accommodation we live in is a stage lower than a hovel, there is no money for paint or repairs. Equipment is old and broken. All the new kit promised never turns up because the money isn't there to buy it. If it was a private company it would have gone down the pan years ago.
David, London

How can they be adequately equipped when so many have to buy their own basic equipment?
Andy, Sheffield

As a late great prime minister once said. 'Gives us the tools and we will do the job'. We have the best trained and disciplined armed forces anywhere. Pity the general public and politicians are not up to the same standard.
John Graham, Edinburgh, Scotland

Soldiers in Iraq without body armour and with limited ammunition, soldiers in Kuwait having to buy their own boots. SA80 rifles that keep jamming. The list goes on and on. Mr Hoon is responsible. What's he going to do about it?
Terry, Epsom, England

In the middle of all of this nonsense are thousands of men and women putting their lives on the line for us Ray, London, England

Someone needs to grab this whole issue by the scruff of the neck and get it sorted. On one hand we hear about massive cuts by Geoff Hoon, now we hear it's the MoD not spending the money properly. In the middle of all of this nonsense are thousands of men and women putting their lives on the line for us. For their sake alone this mess has to be sorted out and fast. Never have we needed these brave individuals as we do now!
Ray, London, England

This dreadful lack of equipment combined with the recent plans for the culling of 20,000 military personnel proves to many that the so-called "war on terror" is bogus.
AC, UK

A bunch of pencil pushers who have never been in combat, buying for those who are. A guaranteed recipe for failure, especially when said pencil pushers seem obsessed with complex gadgets and multi-purpose gizmos and not with the basics for the infantryman.
A. Sweeting, Leicester, UK

Defiantly not! We have one of the best peacekeeping and respected forces around and we can't even supply them properly. Iraq showed that one up. We can't cut our armed forces back any more. If anything we should be investing in them and their equipment. Another major mistake by our misguided and spin doctoring Labour government.
Anonymous, UK