UK to start talks on outsourcing weapons buying say sources

Britain will start talks to put its 159 billion pound military equipment buying programme in the hands of a private company as soon as Friday, as it battles to clamp down on cost overruns and delays, industry sources said.

About 20 firms have expressed an interest in a contract to run the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) unit, which accounted for almost half of the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) 34.4 billion pound budget last year.

The government will now choose firms for formal discussions. Should it go ahead, Britain will be the first country to outsource its negotiations with weapons supplies such as BAE Systems and Finmeccanica, according to defence consultancy IHS Jane's. Britain expects to spend 159 billion pounds on military equipment between 2012 and 2022.

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