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British troops fighting in Iraq were exposed to greater danger than necessary by being ill-equipped.
The findings come in a report published by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee.
The report comes amid controversy over the death of Sergeant Steven Roberts who was shot in the chest near the Iraqi town of Basra last year.
Sergeant Roberts, from Wadebridge in Cornwall, was asked to hand in his body armour because it was in short supply.
The report says troops were put in danger because of an "utterly unacceptable" shortage of the correct protective equipment.
Badly equipped
The parliamentary committee said the MoD had not managed equipment well, stating that 200,000 body armour components had been issued since 1999 but the department did not know their whereabouts.
Despite investing £550m since the first Gulf War in computerised systems, the committee said the MoD still lacked a "credible consignment tracking system", and it could not successfully track its kit from storage to front line.
"This is utterly unacceptable and the MoD must take the necessary steps to identify gaps in provision and how these may be best addressed in time for any future operations," said committee chairman Edward Leigh.
BBC Read More
The findings come in a report published by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee.
The report comes amid controversy over the death of Sergeant Steven Roberts who was shot in the chest near the Iraqi town of Basra last year.
Sergeant Roberts, from Wadebridge in Cornwall, was asked to hand in his body armour because it was in short supply.
The report says troops were put in danger because of an "utterly unacceptable" shortage of the correct protective equipment.
Badly equipped
The parliamentary committee said the MoD had not managed equipment well, stating that 200,000 body armour components had been issued since 1999 but the department did not know their whereabouts.
Despite investing £550m since the first Gulf War in computerised systems, the committee said the MoD still lacked a "credible consignment tracking system", and it could not successfully track its kit from storage to front line.
"This is utterly unacceptable and the MoD must take the necessary steps to identify gaps in provision and how these may be best addressed in time for any future operations," said committee chairman Edward Leigh.
BBC Read More
