Here's another example ... A good friend of mine is a very highly skilled engineer who works for a local company specialising in engineering weighing and measuring machines (the sort of eye wateringly expensive, high end advanced "spatially aware" kit that can tell you if an atom on a gnats cock is out of true). He has often tried to explain to me how it works over a few pints, but a dumb *** like me can only follow him to the end of the first sentence....
Anyway I digress, this kit is sold worldwide and to all branched of the MOD, well it was, these days very little high end kit is purchased by the MOD and most goes to outside contractors who are contracted by the MOD, to "save money"
Here's a great example of "saving money" relayed to me a few years ago by my mate. Apparently when (Tornado GR4's I think it was), went for major overhaul, the radar units would be removed first and sent back to the manufacturers for repair and upgrade. The radar would be replaced by a special bolt in ballasted weight, so the aircraft could be flown to its destination.
Well, the Company that makes them used to work closely with the RAF on delivery. Not any more, today they get an email from some overweight bureaucrat at the MOD and that's it. Once they had an order for 12 units (£££££ cost to the tax payer), they were never collected, just sat gathering dust. No one at the MOD was interested ... then they received an order for 12 more, well looking in the warehouse, they tried informing the MOD that they already had 12 gathering dust and waiting to be picked up ... Not my problem said the disinterested bureaucrat, just make us 12 more please...!
This is typical of the stories he has told me over the years and is just one more symptom regarding the front line being disconnected from its trade and industry partners and having its own logistics and engineering branches run down ... he has many more tales of woe unfortunately