British lawmakers slam military over management of equipment

LONDON — The British Defence Ministry’s alleged failure to adequately manage stocks of spares and supplies puts military personnel at risk, according to the parliamentary committee that oversees government spending.

The Public Accounts Committee claimed that outdated systems, the poor quality of cataloged data and the fragmentation of inventory management are partly the cause. Some of the inventory management systems used by the British Army and Royal Navy are nearly 40 years old, the committee noted in report, published Jan. 19.

The inventory management sector is responsible for 740 million individual items stored for the British military, ranging from bombs and clothing to medical supplies and helicopter rotors.

“Armed forces personnel put themselves in harm’s way in defense of our nation and deserve to expect that the equipment they require to do so will be there when they need it,” said Meg Hillier, the committee chair. “Our committee warned over a decade ago of waste and fragmentation in the MoD’s supply systems, and our report finds that many of those problems remain unresolved and without the right powers to address them.”

The report highlighted a problem with the Royal Navy’s medical supplies as an example of how inventory mismanagement could result in serious consequences for personnel.

The report said the ministry had failed to consider the needs of its medical operations as part of a supply chain outsourcing deal awarded to a Leidos-led consortium in 2015, known as Logistics Commodities and Services Transformation Program, or LCST.

Military units had poor access to their medical inventory as a result, and were supplied with items without the shelf life for long-term deployments.

In 2022, the Navy assessed the situation as “presenting a significant risk to life” for its personnel if left unresolved. But in 2023, the performance for medical equipment had still not improved to the required level, the report stated.

Overall, however, LCST has proved a success for the ministry, with forecasts noting the deal will save £403 million (U.S. $510 million) by the end of the contract in 2028, when the £1.8 billion Future Defence Support Services program takes its place.

“It [the MoD] is still holding substantial amounts of inventory that is unserviceable, overstocked or beyond the service date of its related platform,” the committee said.

Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.

伦敦——据负责监督政府支出的议会委员会称，英国国防部涉嫌未能妥善管理备件和物资库存，使军事人员面临风险。

公共账目委员会声称，系统陈旧、编目数据质量差以及库存管理分散是造成这一问题的部分原因。该委员会在1月19日发布的报告中指出，英国陆军和皇家海军使用的一些库存管理系统已有近40年的历史。

库存管理部门负责为英国军方储存 7.4 亿件物品，从炸弹和服装到医疗用品和直升机旋翼，应有尽有。

“武装部队人员为保卫国家而身陷险境，他们理应期望在需要时能够获得所需的装备，”委员会主席梅格·希利尔表示。“十多年前，我们委员会就曾警告国防部后勤系统存在浪费和碎片化问题，而我们的报告发现，其中许多问题至今仍未得到解决，而且缺乏相应的权力来解决这些问题。”

该报告以英国皇家海军医疗用品问题为例，说明了库存管理不善可能给人员带来严重后果。

报告称，卫生部在 2015 年授予由 Leidos 牵头的财团一项名为“物流商品和服务转型计划”（LCST）的供应链外包协议中，未能考虑其医疗业务的需求。

因此，军事单位难以获得医疗物资，而且所供应的物品保质期不足以满足长期部署的需求。

2022年，海军评估认为，如果问题得不到解决，将对人员生命构成“重大风险”。但报告指出，到了2023年，医疗设备的性能仍未改善到所需水平。

但总体而言，LCST 已被证明对国防部来说是一次成功之举，据预测，到 2028 年合同结束时，该协议将节省 4.03 亿英镑（5.1 亿美元），届时价值 18 亿英镑的未来国防支持服务计划将取而代之。

委员会表示：“国防部仍然持有大量无法使用、库存过剩或已超过其相关平台服役期限的库存。”

Andrew Chuter 是《防务新闻》的英国记者。