Missing Equipment
As an ex RAF Stacker this does not come as a shock as far back as the 1970s as a young stacker we were using computor controlled stock systems to account for anything over a certain price or if it could be repaired. By the 1990 we had stand alone systems to take on operations so we could still look after and track expensive aircraft and other weapon systems and even your chair which you parked your bottom. It may not come as a shock that the Army even now cannot account for expensive items once issued forward to a unit (this may have changed but was still the case when I left the RAF in 2002.
I am not saying the RAF System of accounting for equipment is perfect but in general it works. So if an RAF Commander asks his supply chappy how many engines for Typhoons or Chinooks we have and what state of repair they are in he will get is reply back quite quick, or how many round of 5.56 we have or how many Land rover and Trucks are on line and so on.
During the first Gulf War as all three services were preparing to go to war the Army had to go on BFBS TV and ask all QM to report their Tank Spares as they had no idea who had what. I dont think its changed.
During that War the RAF had a bad time keeping track of its assets in the field so we brought in USAS (Unit Supply ADP System) which would account for all repairable and major items on operation.
The British Armed forces are going over to a tri-service Supply System and guess who going to get it, not the RAF who looks after its assets but the Army, is it little wonder you are loosing Billions worth of kit. There is also a roumer that the RAF is going to give its Supply System lock stock and too smoking barrels to the Army somewhere down the line.
As a young stacker i was sending emails via internal net to my fellow stackers all over the world in real time in 1976/77 and using sytems to control the RAF Valuble assets and make sure the RAF had its AOG spares ASAP. The Army will take the RAF Back to the dark ages with Supply and the RAF will get what it pays for.