Cost of UK defense projects soared by £9billion in just one year, report says

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The analysis comes as the prime minister prepares for this week's NATO summit in Vilnius, where the war in Ukraine is expected to top the list of the agenda

The F-35 Lightning II program received a red rating (

Image: UK MoD 2021)

The Tories were today told to 'get a handle' on major defense equipment programs after costs soared by £9billion in just one year.

Research revealed that experts doubted that a series of major military projects could be delivered on time and within budget.

The analysis of the government's major projects portfolio comes as Rishi Sunak prepares to travel to Lithuania on Tuesday for a crucial NATO summit that will be dominated by the alliance's support for Ukraine.< /p>

The Prime Minister is expected to trumpet the latest figures showing the UK was one of 11 NATO nations out of 31 to meet the alliance's target of spending at least 2% of their Defense GDP.

But Britain barely passed the threshold, with only 2.07% allocated to the armed forces, according to NATO statistics released last week.

A study by the Lib Dems of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority's latest annual report found that, among major defense projects underway, lifetime costs fell by £63 billion in 2020-21 to £72 billion in 2021-22.< /p>

Rishi Sunak will travel to Vilnius on Tuesday (

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Getty Images)

The watchdog uses a traffic light system to rank the likelihood that a major project will achieve its goals, on time, and within budget.

Only three of the Department of Defense's 52 projects received the highest green rating, while 33 were rated orange and nine received the worst red status, according to the 80-page report.

Red-rated programs include delivery of F-35Bs, Lightning II fighter jets, with ministers still unsure how many fighter jets they will purchase.