UK Ministry of Defence Wrote Off Over £1.2 Billion in Equipment and Projects in One Year
Losses include scrapped spy planes, decommissioned warships, and a failed radio system, totaling over £3 billion in two years.
The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported write-offs exceeding £1.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, according to a review of the department's spending. These losses stem from 17,622 separate cases involving scrapped spy plane upgrades, a failed radio system, decommissioned warships, and crashed drones.
This figure follows £1.9 billion in write-offs from the previous year, bringing the total over two years to more than £3 billion. The revelations come as ministers are reportedly seeking increased funding for rearmament.
Major Write-Offs
The largest single write-off was £408 million associated with building work at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, responsible for producing warheads for Britain's nuclear deterrent. Additionally, the MoD incurred a £254 million loss in 2025 when it canceled an upgrade program for the Royal Air Force's (RAF) Shadow spy planes. The Mk2 program was terminated due to persistent delays and escalating costs.
The Army's Project Morpheus, intended as a replacement for the Bowman battlefield radios, cost £236 million to cancel, despite over £690 million already having been spent on the project by 2023.
Naval write-offs included a £46 million hit from decommissioning the frigate HMS Richmond, £11 million for the minehunter HMS Chiddingfold, and £9.5 million for retiring the casualty ship RFA Argus.
Other significant expenditures included £31.7 million for demolishing unwanted buildings, £6.2 million for dismantling a facility at the Porton Down chemical weapons laboratory, and £86 million for half-completed projects that were written off.
A solar farm initiative on defense property was canceled at a cost of £5.8 million, and a project to replace thermal imaging cameras and laser rangefinders was terminated for £8.3 million.
Equipment Losses
Among the equipment lost or destroyed were a £2.4 million Resolute Valkyrie drone, two Eagle drones valued at £324,000 each, and an underwater robot deemed beyond economic repair at a cost of £674,000.
In addition to these capital write-offs, the MoD made 7,080 special payments totaling £169 million. These included £48.5 million in compensation for historical cases involving veterans dismissed for being gay.
A spokesperson for the MoD stated that the department continually reviews its programs and assets to ensure they meet the armed forces' needs, adding that "accounting write-offs do not necessarily represent cash losses."
John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, expressed concern over the level of waste, urging ministers to address spending within the department.