Project Red Dragon set out to create a world-class aviation centre

The defence select committee said moving work from the centre after spending �100m of taxpayers' money on it was "perverse and wasteful".

The RAF St Athan centre is due to close next year with 500 job losses.

But Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said government investment in the centre had been returned.

They want a full investigation into whether the investment was properly spent at St Athan - part of a scheme known as Project Red Dragon to create a world-class aviation centre.

Committee chairman James Arbuthnot MP told BBC Radio Wales: "The government decided - for reasons we simply didn't understand - both to pour taxpayers money into this new facility at St Athan at the same time the Ministry of Defence was doing this review which would take the work away from St Athan.

"We didn't understand how they could have that combination of decisions."

The report said it was doubtful RAF bases would match Dara's facilities

The Conservative MP said it was "absolutely essential" that the government worked very hard to improve the prospects for the "incredible facility" at St Athan.

He acknowledged Mr Ingram's claim the site was "highly marketable", but added: "The question is: should taxpayers have been pouring this money into the facility which the Ministry of Defence suddenly decided not to use?"

The UK Government is transferring repair work on fast jets from south Wales to RAF bases in England despite the construction of St Athan's so-called super hangar.

The logistics review concluded that the RAF should service its jets on base rather than at a single servicing centre.

The result is that the future of Dara is unclear beyond 2007 - as repair work on Tornado GR4 bombers is to be transferred to RAF Marham in Norfolk, while Harrier jump jets will be serviced at RAF Cottesmore.

I'm somewhat mystified by the summary to the report because I think it belies the content of the report itself Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram

Mr Ingram told the BBC that the government's investment in the project would be recovered by the time the fast jet work finished in 2007 - even though the MoD was moving out of the facility earlier than planned.

The minister said the government had been "under a lot of pressure from interests in south Wales" to build the St Athan facility.

He added: "A prime issue here was - can we get a return on our investment if we proceed, even though at that time we had commenced on a review of the way we did our business?