Military overstocked on training ammo, left ‘gaps’ in combat munitions, audit says
-
Share on Facebook
-
Share on Bluesky
-
Share on X
- Copy Link
OTTAWA — Only about half of the ammunition the military acquired for training and exercises was actually put to use, a federal audit examining National Defence’s ammunition stocks has found.
The audit, released Thursday, also said the military’s strategic stockpile — the reserve it maintains for emergencies and combat — suffers from “significant gaps” between required and actual inventory levels that will take years to fix.
Only 56 per cent of its “regular use” ammunition for training and deployments was used over the past three years, likely because of “overstated” requests for ammo and the cancellation of planned activities like training exercises, the audit said.
National Defence failed to track the reasons for those “limited or cancelled activities,” although it indicated in an analysis in March that key equipment, such as tanks and ships, were “often out of service” when needed.
