Members of the Armed Forces fear that they are risking their lives by being sent into battle with inadequate equipment, a new study has shown.

More than 24,000 military personnel were questioned in the first survey carried out across the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force.

The results have dealt a serious blow to the Ministry of Defence, revealing low morale and deep disquiet over the resources allocated to British troops.

Despite the purchase of new armoured vehicles and improvements in other areas of equipment for the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years, the survey showed deep dissatisfaction across the three Services.

Although there is an historic culture of complaining among troops - nowhere better highlighted than in the proliferation of Service blogs and websites - the survey was intended as a serious gathering of views from within the 186,000 members of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF.

The survey asked how satisfied personnel were with the standard of equipment and the resources available for the Forces. The current defence budget is £34 billion, but new urgently required equipment for Iraq and Afghanistan is paid for out of the Treasury's reserve funds.

The level of dissatisfaction was the same in all the Services: 50 per cent of the Royal Navy personnel said they were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied; in the Royal Marines, the figure was even higher at 57 per cent, in the Army it was 49 per cent and the RAF, 52 per cent.

They were also asked how satisfied they were with the amount of equipment and resources provided. There have been a number of reports in recent years in Afghanistan of British troops running out of ammunition, and there has been a persistent appeal from military commanders for more helicopters. Forty-nine per cent of soldiers and officers in the Army who were asked this question replied that they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. The proportion in the Royal Navy was 48 per cent, it was 55 per cent in the Royal Marines and 49 per cent in the RAF.

In response, the MoD said: “We are constantly rolling out new and improved kit, including body armour, sniper rifles, and vehicles like Mastiff and Ridgback, and in the last three years we have delivered equipment valued at more than £10 billion.” Earlier this year Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, Commander Helmand Task Force in Afghanistan, responsible for 7,800 British troops of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said: “I doubt whether the British Army has ever put a brigade into the field as well equipped as 16 Brigade, and it continues to improve with each deployment.”

Soldiers and Royal Marines serving in Afghanistan have also told The Times that equipment has improved significantly. However, the ordering of new equipment, particularly the much-needed heavy-armoured vehicles to replace the vulnerable “Snatch” Land Rovers, has taken time.

The Ridgbacks referred to by the MoD were unveiled only recently and will not be in service in Afghanistan until next year. Other vehicles, such as the Viking, have proved to be vulnerable to mines and have had to be reinforced.

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