Getting value for money isn’t easy in Defence especially when the target keeps altering

Regular readers of this column are well aware there is only so much that can be written – well, intelligently written, anyway – about naval shipbuilding and the new submarine project.

And so, because you're accustomed to reading stimulating articles in this space, you might confidently expect your correspondent wouldn't tax your patience with (yet another) fulmination about the incompetence of government policy it comes to the Navy, nor a diatribe on the arcana of modern defence procurement.

So let's just take it for granted that our current system is set up to provide weapons systems that are sometimes second rate, always overpriced, often late, and often inappropriate. Let's, instead, ask "why?"

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