From Daily Telegraph
Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, is being called on to clear up confusion over why the cost of an army helicopter contract appears to have doubled to £2bn in under a year.
Last year the Ministry of Defence said that the contract for 70 Lynx helicopters, awarded to AgustaWestland, would cost the taxpayer about £900m to £1bn. But in answer to a parliamentary question, Adam Ingram, armed forces minister, said the contract would be worth £2bn. The shadow procurement minister, Gerald Howarth, said: "If it is true that the cost of this project has doubled in 12 months then we need an immediate explanation."
One source involved in the contract, under which the helicopters will be delivered from 2011, said that the MoD had probably now added in the cost of spares, VAT and wage inflation. But in Mr Ingram's answer, which lists the top 20 defence procurements, no other contract has been inflated with such additional costs.
The MoD told The Daily Telegraph that the figure could be a typing error, but despite requests for further clarification it did not return calls. Francis Tusa, a defence analyst who first spotted the increase, said: "Someone has some serious explaining to do."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/mai...cncopter03.xml