The headline mentions ships - but the only programme mentioned in the article is the F-35.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/m...osts-97hx79bgl
MoD is billions short for new ships and jets after losing control of costs
Britain’s defence chiefs have lost control of their budget and cannot afford to buy all the warships, jets and submarines they need, MPs warn today.
The public accounts committee says in a report that it is “highly sceptical” that a defence review, due to conclude in July, will fix a funding gap of up to £21 billion over the next decade while also equipping troops to counter new threats from cyber, chemical and electromagnetic warfare......
“How can you afford not to?” one official told a group of journalists at a briefing yesterday.... The official indicated concern about the UK’s ability to afford all 138 of the next generation of stealthy warplanes that the Ministry of Defence has said it plans to buy as part of a multibillion-pound US-led programme. “The [UK] government has a choice as to whether they are going to continue to fund their defence at the level at which they previously said it needed to be funded — 138,” the official said, referring to the 138 F-35 Lightning II jets......
The public accounts committee describes as unrealistic the MoD’s plan to purchase and support military equipment, including at least 48 of the F-35 jets, by 2027. Its report is published almost six years to the day since Philip Hammond, as defence secretary, said that the government had “resolved” a £38 billion hole in the defence budget.......
The MoD is also criticised for a lack of transparency on its financial position. The annual equipment plan was made public ten months after the period that it covers began. A particular mention is made of the cost of the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme, the most expensive and technologically advanced warplane in history. The MoD has refused to offer a price estimate for a single, combat-capable F-35 jet, including upgrades and spare parts, or how much the total programme will cost. The MPs say that they “frustratingly” received more information on cost from the F-35 joint programme office in the US than from the MoD........