MPs raise concerns over armed forces' asset tracking system

MPs have raised concerns about the ability of the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) new asset tracking system to cope with major deployments of the UK’s armed forces.

The MoD has spent £18m to date on consignment tracking and £6m on inventory management, with plans to spend a further £8.5m and £45m respectively on each area over the next three years, according to a report from the Public Accounts Committee.

The report claims there has been a history of ‘deficiencies in the department's asset tracking capabilities’ since the early 1990s. It says the introduction of the new system has given the MoD visibility of the majority of items through the supply chain to forces in Iraq, but claims ‘it remains untested during the critical initial stages of any deployment’.

The system was introduced to alleviate difficulties with supply and tracking of goods that resulted in shortages of key equipment such as body armour and armoured vehicle air filters supplied to front-line forces during the second Iraq war.

The MoD says it has made significant improvements to capability in this area ‘at relatively low cost’. The department told MPs it is now able to track 93 per cent of the equipment delivered into Iraq through to the point of final consumption.

Planned improvements over the next three to four years will include increasing the resilience of the system, which lacked the necessary robustness for deployed military operations. The report also suggests it lacks flexibility and needs to be fully linked to inventory and accounting management systems.