COMMENTING on Tuesday’s NAO report on the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft, Shadow Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox said:

“This NAO report exposes one of the most absurd procurement decisions taken by this Labour Government.

"First, they failed to examine alternative ways of funding the requirement for air-to-air tankers / transport aircraft. The extraordinarily convoluted PFI process means the programme is five years late, leaving the RAF dependent on 40 year old Tri-Stars and VC-10s which have provided our troops with an unreliable service.

“Secondly, because the contract was shrouded in secrecy, it is only now that we learn that the planes will not even be fitted with defensive aids to enable them to fly into war zones.

“As troop carriers they will be of no more use than hiring British Airways or Easyjet planes, but twice as expensive. Meanwhile, the NAO confirms it will be years – and millions more pounds of taxpayers’ money – to bring the planes up to the standard necessary to replace the Tri-Stars on routes to war zones like Afghanistan.

“This FSTA programme sums up the utter incompetence of Labour’s management of defence procurement.”