Helicopters bought for £26om are useless if it's cloudy

Eight special forces helicopters delivered to Britain's Ministry of Defence in 2001 at a cost of nearly £260 million have not been used in Afghanistan or Iraq because they cannot fly if it is cloudy.

The first SAS team to enter Afghanistan was delayed by six days because of the problems with the Chinooks, which are allowed to fly above 500 feet only in clear skies.

The problems, disclosed yesterday in a National Audit Office report, were the result of "one of the most incompetent procurements of all time'', Edward Leigh, the chairman of the Commons public accounts committee said yesterday.

"Eight brand new Chinook HC3s costing £260 million were delivered in 2001 but will be sitting on the ground until 2007,'' he said. "Because of a massively botched job, they cannot be flown when there is a cloud in the sky. The MoD might as well have bought eight turkeys.''

In what Leigh described as "an atrocious oversight'', the ministry had decided to cut costs by refusing to pay for a fully digital cockpit. The result was a compromise that did not match British defence safety standards.

The 500 feet restriction means that the helicopters "cannot be used other than for limited flight trials'', the report says.

It will take £127 million more to bring them up to British standards and enable them to carry out the tasks for which they are needed.

The helicopters were ordered from Boeing in 1995. They were tailored to the needs of the SAS and Special Boat Service, with satellite communications technology, extra fuel tanks and in-flight refuelling probes for long flights.