Taxpayers had to shell out £3million to fix a nuclear submarine after an embarrassing crash.
HMS Ambush, which has “world-leading sensors” to detect vessels, hit a merchant ship while submerged.
The repair bill is just one example of cash losses totalling more than £218million in Ministry of Defence accounts for 2016/17.
More than £3million was spent on gas canisters which were later “lost”. And ration packs worth £363,000 had to be disposed of after they passed their expiry dates.
HMS Ambush, our newest and most advanced sub, crashed on July 20 last year while surfacing off Gibraltar. The conning tower and turret were badly dented.
The £1.1billion vessel, which carries Tomahawk cruise missiles, limped back to Gibraltar before returning to Faslane, Scotland, for repairs.
Other cash drains included £601,000 for the loss of Typhoon/Tornado navigation pod and £658,000 on a vehicle destroyed by fire during training.
However, total losses were half the £544million of the previous year.
Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith said: “Millions have been wasted on cancelled projects and lost equipment at a time when the Government says it cannot afford to give our armed forces the pay rise that they deserve.”