MoD slammed over unused helicopters

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While commanders in Afghanistan have been crying out for extra helicopters, the aircraft - which were supposed to fly missions for the Special Forces - have been lying idle in special air-conditioned hangars in the Wiltshire countryside.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) said the first of the Chinooks would still not be ready to enter service until the end of next year, while the cost of the programme has doubled to almost £500 million.

At the same time, a stop-gap programme to fit existing RAF Chinooks for special operations was described by the NAO as "sub-optimal", having led to safety concerns among pilots.

The saga began in 1995 when the MoD ordered the eight helicopters from Boeing for £259 million. They were configured as the hi-tech Chinook Mk3, equipped with extra "fat" fuel tanks, night vision equipment, and enhanced defensive aids in order to carry out special operations.

In order to cut costs, however, the MoD ordered a one-off "hybrid" digital-analogue cockpit computer system. But when the RAF took delivery at the end of 2001, they found that it did not work properly.

As a result, the Chinooks were deemed only to be airworthy at altitudes above 500ft in clear conditions when the pilot could navigate by sight, making them useless for special forces work.

It then took more than five years for the MoD and Boeing to come up with a workable "fix-to-field" programme to resolve the problems, which would have seen the Chinooks enter service in 2011/12 at an additional cost of £215 million - a process the NAO described as "protracted".

Throughout that time they were kept in climate-controlled, de-humidified hangars at Boscombe Down, where they are subjected to weekly inspections, with a more detailed examination every two years - a process that has cost £560,000. By 2007, however, the need for more helicopters in Afghanistan was becoming urgent, so Defence Secretary Des Browne abandoned the "fix-to-field" plan and ordered them to be fitted out as standard Chinook Mk2s.

The MoD is now confident that they will be ready from the end of 2009.