Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Defence ministers have been accused of wasting nearly \u00a3175mn 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.\u00a0The 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 due 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 \u201cc. \u00a3174mn on external assistance\u201d for the Morpheus programme from 2015 to the end of December 2023.\u00a0The revelation will fuel concerns over the MoD\u2019s 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 \u00a3770mn on it.\u00a0Morpheus is the \u201clatest in a line of failures that has seen Tory ministers blowing millions whilst hollowing out our armed forces\u201d, said Healey.\u00a0\u201cSince 2010, the Conservatives have wasted at least \u00a315bn of taxpayers\u2019 money, failed to deliver major defence projects, and shrunk the British army to the smallest size since Napoleon,\u201d he added.\u00a0The revelation also adds to concerns over the reliance on external advice in government. Ministers\u2019 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.\u00a0In his letter, which was a response to a parliamentary question put forward by Healey about the use of external consultants on Morpheus, Cartlidge said \u201cno external consultants\u201d had been employed.The MoD told the Financial Times that \u201cexternal assistance\u201d covered things like technical support. It was different from external consultancy as it was to do with delivery rather than strategy or management. The \u00a3174mn spent was part of the overall \u00a3766mn spent on Morpheus so far, it added.\u00a0\u00a0Defence analysts, however, dismissed the distinction. \u201cWhether it\u2019s consultants or external assistance \u2014 it\u2019s still the same security blanket: if in doubt, get external advisers who will validate what you are doing,\u201d said Francis Tusa, an analyst and editor of the Defence Analysis newsletter.\u00a0Morpheus has been described as the \u201cbrain\u201d of the army\u2019s 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.\u00a0Its precise future, however, is now in question after the MoD last December admitted that the project had \u201cfallen short\u201d of expectations and that it was cutting its losses on one of the main contracts. It said it was ending a \u00a3395mn 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\u2019s long-delayed armoured vehicle programme.The ongoing delays meant that the army is in a \u201creally bad position\u201d, 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 \u201cout of date\u201d. Tusa estimates that it could cost a \u201cminimum of \u00a31bn in extra expenditure\u201d to convert the vehicles.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Defence ministers have been accused of wasting nearly \u00a3175mn on external advice on a new communications system for the British army that is already mired in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-138182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}