Background
The National Audit Office published an independent assessment of the Ministry of Defence’s (the MoD’s) 10-year Equipment Plans every year between 2012 and 2023.
The MoD acknowledged in 2023 that its 10-year plan to buy and support equipment was unaffordable. It expected these projects to cost £16.9 billion more than the available budget, while also facing considerable spending pressures elsewhere. Since then, the government has announced that it intends to spend significantly more on defence as a proportion of GDP in recognition of the increasing threats the UK faces. Currently, the UK spends 2.3% of GDP on defence; this is due to increase to 2.6% of GDP by 2027 before rising further to 3.5% by 2035.
In June 2025, the MoD published an externally-led review (the Strategic Defence Review) of “the roles, capabilities and reforms required to meet the challenges, threats and opportunities of the twenty-first century.” It committed to develop a ‘Defence Investment Plan’ by autumn 2025, which will include planned spending on equipment capabilities and infrastructure. The MoD intends that the Defence Investment Plan will be deliverable and affordable. The MoD is also developing a Defence Reform and Efficiency Plan to demonstrate it is achieving value for money.
Scope
Building on our work examining the former Equipment Plan, this report is an initial assessment of whether the MoD’s capability, goals and commitments set out in the Defence Investment Plan are realistic and deliverable within its forecasted budgets. To do this, we will consider:
- how effectively the MoD has managed the development and introduction of its Defence Investment Plan
- whether the MoD has sufficient forecast budgets to buy, maintain and operate the equipment and infrastructure it needs to deliver the Defence Investment Plan
The Ministry of Defence intends to publish the Defence Investment Plan in autumn 2025; our report on it will be published at a later date.
NAO team
Director: Tom McDonald
Audit Manager: Michael Slater