A Royal Navy destroyer will enter service this year without having test-fired its key anti-aircraft missile system, a committee of MPs said today, branding the omission “disgraceful”.

A new fleet of Type 45 destroyers — designed to form the backbone of the Navy’s air defence capability — will be completed more than two years late and £1.5 billion over its original budget, according to the Commons Public Accounts Committee.

It said that the problems could have “deeply worrying implications” for Britain’s capacity to defend itself against an enemy aircraft attack.

The first Type 45 Daring class destroyer, due for launch this year, will not be fully operational until 2011. “What is disgraceful is that it will enter service with not one of its main anti-air missiles having been fired from the ship,” said Edward Leigh, chairman of the committee. “The fleet of Type 45s will not have their full capability until well into the next decade.”

Delays to the project meant that Britain was relying on the older Type 42 destroyers for longer than planned. “These ships are increasingly expensive to maintain, provide a more limited capability than the Type 45 and are more vulnerable to the most up-to-date threats from a modern enemy,” the MPs said.

The failure to complete the new fleet on time and within budget was blamed on over-optimism by the Ministry of Defence. The committee criticised the ministry’s failure to account for the potential technical risk of using 80 per cent new technology on the vessels.

In addition, it said that project management arrangements were poor. “The department needs to spend more time at the start of projects to ensure its cost estimates are robust and realistic,” the committee said. “It should factor in more realistic allowance for risk on its more technically complex projects.”

The MPs noted that it will be more challenging in the future to meet a requirement to have five ships at sea at any one time after the Ministry of Defence cut a planned order for twelve ships to six because of a reduced threat.

Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said that the Government had not given sufficient support to the Navy.

“This report highlights the extraordinary risk that this Government is taking with our nation’s defences in an increasingly volatile world,” he said. “Neglect for our Armed Forces from this Government is nothing new, but incompetence on this scale is staggering.”

Despite mistakes at the early stages of the project, the committee said, the MoD had learnt lessons that it was applying to the construction of two new aircraft carriers.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Should Knox’s trial even have reached the courtroom?
• All that glitters is not sold in Wright’s world
• Believe it or not, Big Brother is your friend