MoD accused of wasting £174mn on advice for army’s new battlefield radio

Defence ministers have been accused of wasting nearly £175mn on external advice on a new communications system for the British army that is already mired in delays and is not due to enter service until the next decade. 

The next-generation system, known as Morpheus, had been due to replace the current Bowman radio technology, which was first introduced more than 20 years ago, from 2026. Bowman, however, has had to be upgraded several times owing to persistent delays in the procurement of Morpheus.

James Cartlidge, defence procurement minister, said in a letter to John Healey, shadow defence secretary, in March that the Ministry of Defence had spent “c. £174mn on external assistance” for the Morpheus programme from 2015 to the end of December 2023. 

The revelation will fuel concerns over the MoD’s poor record on procurement and add to questions over the amount of money spent on Morpheus despite the lack of progress. The department admitted last December that it had already spent just under £770mn on it. 

Morpheus is the “latest in a line of failures that has seen Tory ministers blowing millions whilst hollowing out our armed forces”, said Healey. 

“Since 2010, the Conservatives have wasted at least £15bn of taxpayers’ money, failed to deliver major defence projects, and shrunk the British army to the smallest size since Napoleon,” he added. 

The revelation also adds to concerns over the reliance on external advice in government. Ministers’ use of advisers has risen to record levels since the last election and both of the main parties have given manifesto pledges to cut their usage over the next parliament. 

In his letter, which was a response to a parliamentary question put forward by Healey about the use of external consultants on Morpheus, Cartlidge said “no external consultants” had been employed.

The MoD told the Financial Times that “external assistance” covered things such as technical support. It was different from external consultancy as it was to do with delivery rather than strategy or management. The £174mn spent was part of the overall £766mn spent on Morpheus so far, it added.  

Defence analysts, however, dismissed the distinction. “Whether it’s consultants or external assistance — it’s still the same security blanket: if in doubt, get external advisers who will validate what you are doing,” said Francis Tusa, an analyst and editor of the Defence Analysis newsletter. 

Morpheus has been described as the “brain” of the army’s future armoured vehicles and a wider network linking infantry with commanders, sensors and weapons. The new system involves the development of both software and hardware, including battlefield radios. 

Its precise future, however, is now in question after the MoD last December admitted that the project had “fallen short” of expectations and that it was cutting its losses on one of the main contracts. It said it was ending a £395mn contract with General Dynamics of the US to design an open architecture programme for the transition from the Bowman system.

It is the second problematic procurement that General Dynamics has been involved in with the MoD. It is also the lead contractor for Ajax, the British Army’s long-delayed armoured vehicle programme.

The delays meant that the army was in a “really bad position”, said Tusa. The force would have to bring new vehicles such as Challenger 3, Boxer, Ajax and other vehicles into service with Bowman, which is “out of date”. Tusa estimates that it could cost a “minimum of £1bn in extra expenditure” to convert the vehicles.