Defence IT rollout presses on despite MPs' warning

MoD says recommendation for more "realism" in deadlines will only be acted on "if necessary"

DII will improve military IT

The implementation of the delayed Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) is proceeding full speed ahead despite a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report warning the department to "revise target rollout downwards to a more realistic level", according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The PAC report said the programme, already 18 months late, required a further increase in the rate of rollout to meet the MoD's new deadlines for implementing the department-wide infrastructure and urged more realism "to avoid any further inconvenience and wasted effort on the part of staff at sites preparing to receive the system".

The MoD said it would act on this recommendation only "should it prove necessary" and claimed completion of the first stage, Increment 1, was achieved in mid-February "within weeks of the planned date", providing confidence that the next milestone, rolling out 100,000 new terminals, remains on target by the end of the year.

In a formal response to the committee's report, MoD officials said work at the Royal Navy's Whale Island HQ began in January and deliveries started at the MoD Main Building in Whitehall early in February.

The MoD said: "The Permanent Joint HQ at Northwood, Air Command at High Wycombe and the completion of the migration at Land HQ Wilton will be achieved by October 2009."

The ministry accepted the committee's recommendation to maintain detailed records of costs incurred as a result of delays implementing DII in commercial negotiations with the ATLAS consortium of contractors.

The £7.1bn DII is intended to replace hundreds of existing computer systems, including those in use on ships and by units operating abroad.