Andrew Gilligan of BBC Radio 4's Today programme says the problems have big implications for UK defence - not least for any future action in Iraq.

What was the action in Oman about?

Saif Sareea II was an exercise aimed at testing whether Britain could successfully deploy a rapid reaction force for major operations overseas.

The exercise was conducted over three months in Oman last year.

It involved 22,000 British troops, 6,500 vehicles and trailers, 49 fixed wing aircraft, 44 helicopters and 21 naval vessels.

The Ministry of Defence and National Audit Office both said that it had been broadly successful.

However, the NAO said there were some key shortcomings in the functioning of equipment and procedures under desert conditions.

What went wrong?

The NAO revealed a long list of malfunctions with equipment and clothing.

Half the tanks broke down, as did nearly half the helicopters, parts of the main AS-90 artillery piece melted, many of the troops had to wear boots and uniforms designed for a European winter.

Communications - our old favourite - in Kosovo, our troops had to use their mobile phones because their radios didn't work properly.

They still didn't work in Oman, but unfortunately there's no mobile phone coverage in the middle of the Omani desert.

People actually had to stop their tanks and climb out and go into a huddle to talk to each other.

How big is the problem?

Not all of this is new information - the problem of the SA80 rifles jamming, for instance, has been long-standing.

The problem with tank air filters clogging up we also knew about, because squaddies were telling us during the exercises and we reported on it at the time.

But the shocking thing is that the report says the MoD knew perfectly well it was going to have these problems, and it decided not to do anything about them before the exercise because it hadn't got the money.

What are the implications?

At the time this was only an exercise.

Now the problems have taken on new relevance, in the light of all the reports that the US is planning some kind of attack on Iraq in which Britain could join.

In a way, this makes some of the speculation about Britain's role almost academic.

Even if we wanted to, with this kind of equipment problem there's a limit to how much help we could actually be to the US in any attack on Iraq.

Are the conditions in Iraq the same as in Oman?

The likely terrain in the southern part of Iraq is pretty similar. The desert there is perhaps a little bit more gritty than in Oman where this exercise took place.

The temperature is perhaps a shade lower than it was in Oman, but still pretty similar.

The problem is this equipment was all designed for use in the Cold War in Europe, now just about the last place in the world where it's likely to be used.

What does the MoD say?

There's a curious tango they're playing with journalists.

They seem rather reluctant to confirm they're doing anything about it, for fear I suppose that it might be interpreted as meaning they're going to go to war on Iraq.

I think they are going to do something about it, however.