Machine guns among the weapons lost by the UK armed forces

The UK armed forces have lost two machine guns, two pistols and almost 2,000 rounds of ammunition in the last two years.

Meanwhile, two SA80 Cadet PP rifles were stolen in 2021.

The Defense Ministry said it had “robust procedures to deter and prevent loss and theft”.

The figures, released after a Freedom of Information request, revealed that the department lost two General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs), a Glock 43X pistol, a Glock 17 pistol and a deactivated AK47 rifle, in 2021 and 2022.

Some 76 computers and 124 USBs were also lost or stolen during the two-year period.

The Defense Ministry said the missing AK47 rifle and stolen SA80 Cadet PP rifles were deactivated and could not be converted into lethal weapons.

He said that most of the ammunition was accidentally lost during exercises or operations.

The department added that all laptops, tablets and USBs were encrypted to minimize the impact of any loss.

Labor Party Shadow Defense Secretary John Healey said: “The first duty of any government is to keep people safe, so ministers have serious questions to answer about how these weapons, electronic devices and ammunition have Missing from Ministry of Defense Bases, and Who Has Them Now”.

“At a time when external threats are increasing, ministers must sort out security within the MoD to ensure UK equipment does not fall into the wrong hands.”

A Defense Ministry spokeswoman said: “We take the security of defense assets very seriously and have robust procedures in place to deter and prevent loss and theft. In some cases of reported theft, the property is later recovered.”

“If any item is reported missing or missing due to suspected criminal activity, we will take steps to investigate and prosecute.”