RAF bosses blew £50million on helicopter flight schools with NO students
RAF chiefs spent £50million on helicopter flight schools with no students.
It paid contractor Ascent for 86 courses that never took place.
The classes were part of a £3.5billion deal to privatise Top Gun training for the first time.
Former Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois called the contract a “basket case” and vowed MPs would investigate.
He said: “This is like paying for a driving test you never take.”
The MoD said it was not aware how much each course cost but analysis shows they were almost £600,000 each.
The UK Military Flying Training System was supposed to save millions of pounds.
But it forced top brass to guess how many classes were needed.
They booked 560 chopper courses from 2018 to 2023 but 86 were not required after the end of the war in Afghanistan.
Ex-fast jet pilot Tim Davies said the rigid deal was forced on the Air Force and “cannot flex to cope with new numbers”.
He said: “The taxpayer ends up picking up the tab.”
Ascent said they work “as one team” with the MoD and its procurement arm DE&S.
But the the firms refused to refund the courses or use to the time to clear backlogs of other pilots.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace ordered an audit of flying training after leaks showed 350 trainee pilots were stuck in limbo awaiting courses.
Students wait years to get qualified.
The MoD insisted payment was not “per class”.