MoD accused of overspending as budget ‘black hole’ hits £17bn

Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, said the funding injection provided “an opportunity to bring the MoD equipment budget back into balance, with all the advantages this can bring in terms of timely and cost-effective procurement.” “But it also makes clear that the extra money for defence equipment will largely be spent on funding existing, albeit previously underfunded, commitments — not on entirely new programmes,” he added.