Britain's missing Defence Investment Plan is embarrassing the country in front of its allies, MPs have warned.
The Public Accounts Committee issued a damning report last night accusing Labour of damaging the Armed Forces through chronic delays to the crucial spending plan.
In it, cross-party MPs warn the delay risks "squandering the opportunities provided by advances in technology, hindering the government's attempts to modernise the Armed Forces".
Meanwhile, defence firms expecting to ramp up production ahead of a potential 2030 conflict have been left waiting - and some have collapsed entirely.
The Strategic Defence Review, published last June, was meant to be followed by an investment plan in autumn.
A year on from the SDR, that document is still unpublished.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the committee's chairman, delivered a blistering attack on "bureaucratic drift" as the report was released.
The senior Tory MP thundered: "Excuses by those responsible for delivering the blueprint to the effect of 'taking the time to get the details right' simply do not cut it.
"Whatever the content of the DIP when it eventually does appear, the damage from its absence has been done - to the nation's credibility, to its safety, to its armed forces, and to certainty within its entire defence industrial base.
The Prime Minister will be forced to confront Volodymyr Zelensky, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz this afternoon without a plan
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"Any Government minister attempting to explain away this delay to the DIP should instead ask themselves what message the bureaucratic drift of the past months has given to the public, as well as the UK's allies and its adversaries, and simply apologise."
The Prime Minister has indicated it will be published before next month's Nato summit, with an announcement potentially coming this Thursday.
But he will be forced to confront Volodymyr Zelensky, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz this afternoon all without a plan.
Disagreements over funding have driven the paralysis.
The plan has been delayed since last year because of a stand-off around the Cabinet table over costs.
The Prime Minister is thought to want to water down a planned defence spending hike because it might cost too much
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Boosting defence could cost at least £28billion, but both Rachel Reeves and the Prime Minister are thought to want to water down that number to as little as £12billion over concerns it is unaffordable.
Last night, Tory defence spokesman Mark Francois accused Labour of "failing the defences of this country".
While Sir John Major has previously warned not funding defence is a "betrayal" of Britain's future.
"Now we can see the stark effect of Labour's £3.5billion in-year cuts to Ministry of Defence operational and revenue spending," Mr Francois said.
"Their much-vaunted DIP has still not been published, and now this. This Labour Government is failing the defences of this country - literally both above and below the waves."
HMS Prince of Wales has suffered another breakdown | MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
All five Astute-class submarines are currently awaiting maintenance
| PAThe report also targeted the troubled Ajax armoured vehicle programme, a £6billion procurement plagued by years of delays.
The platform is still non-operational and has caused hearing problems and sickness among dozens of soldiers.
Current workarounds require maintenance checks after every use, a practice MPs warned would be impractical in combat.
The Ministry of Defence is developing upgrades to improve the vehicle, built by US firm General Dynamics - though last night's report failed to mention upgrade costs.
MPs said they are waiting for those figures "more in hope than in expectation".
And in a final humiliation for the Armed Forces, the Mail revealed that the Royal Navy's entire available fleet of hunter-killer submarines is stuck in port unable to sail - while the HMS Prince of Wales has been forced into repairs.
All five Astute-class submarines are currently awaiting maintenance, while the aircraft carrier is bobbing off the coast of Norway after breaking down once again.
That will make for grim reading at Northwood, with the Chief of the Defence Staff warning that right now is the "most dangerous period" in decades for the UK and the country needs to prepare for potential "longer conflicts".
Reacting to the PAC's report, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The Government is providing a generational increase in defence spending, with an extra £270billion across this Parliament, ensuring no return to the hollowed-out Armed Forces of the past and the Strategic Defence Review sets out our path to increasing warfighting readiness.
"We are getting on with the job - since July 2024 we have signed over 1,400 major contracts, with nine in ten contracts going to British-based companies."