英國防部低價甩賣航空母艦

The cash-strapped Ministry of Defence is selling off millions of pounds of equipment at bargain basement prices to try to plug a budget deficit。

Everything from boxes of pencils to an aircraft carrier is to be cleared out in an emergency fire sale. Officials are hoping to make up a £36billion ­shortfall。

Among the items up for grabs are 14 Gazelle helicopters, costing around £5million which are expected to fetch around £100,000 and armoured Jaguars for VIPs which can cost up to £200,000.

The MoD’s Defence Equipment & Sales website also has top-class watches which are likely to be sold for a ­fraction of their value。

英國防部爲籌經費甩賣裝備

Expensive timepieces have long been handed out to spies and undercover SAS troops working at British embassies abroad so that they could pass themselves off as well-heeled diplomats。

The “unused as new” watches do not carry an asking price but it is expected they will go for a song。

There is a Raymond Weil Tango men’s watch, advertised as “Stainless steel case, black dial with red accented hire crystal glass”. It normally sells for £1,000. Also on offer is a ladies Crystal Dior watch – “Bezel set with 48 diamonds 0.24 carat, black lacquered dial, black rubber strap set with black sapphire crystal” – worth £4,000.

A source said: “These watches were bought for SAS and defence ­intelligence operatives who work at our embassies abroad so that they look the part when they go to events and parties attended by diplomats and local dignitaries. It’s all part of creating the right image。”

Last year the Disposal Services Authority secured £84million from sales of unwanted ­equipment. The watches are on auction beside military equipment, including Land Rovers, motorbikes and even SAS combat jackets。

Also for sale is a £6,000 fridge advertised for £920; ships’ mattresses; a portable dentist’s chair and even a 100ft-wide girder bridge。

The website also offers dump trucks, aircraft loading equipment, office furniture, tools and even a flight simulator for training Lynx ­helicopter pilots。

The largest item is the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, which ­originally cost £200million. It is being sold in an eBay-style auction, with the latest top offer a mere £3.5million。

Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, a former infantry commander, said: “The one thing of which you can be certain is that once-precious defence equipment is sold it will be needed again within the week. These goods have cost us millions and now they are being sold for peanuts. That cannot be right。”爲填補預算赤字缺口，捉襟見肘的英國國防部正廉價甩賣價值數百萬英鎊的裝備。

小到一盒盒鉛筆，大到一艘航空母艦，都在清倉大甩賣。官員們希望以此填補360億英鎊的資金缺口。

待售品中有14架小羚羊直升機，最初以500萬英鎊買入，現在售價預計只有10萬英鎊，另外還有重要人物乘坐的裝甲捷豹，買入價高達20萬英鎊。

英國國防部裝備銷售網站上還出售頂級名錶，售價也就是實際價值的一個零頭。

一直以來，昂貴名錶都是發給那些在英國駐外使館工作的間諜和英國空軍特別部隊的，以便他們喬裝打扮成富有的外交官。

這些手錶“還沒用過，就跟新的一樣”，雖未列出報價，但估計也都被賤賣。

例如一款雷蒙威探戈系列男士名錶的廣告上寫着“不鏽鋼材質，黑錶盤配有紅色指針。寶藍色水晶玻璃表面。”正常售價要1000英鎊。還有一款女士水晶迪奧表——“表圈鑲有48顆0.24克拉鑽石，黑漆錶盤，黑色的橡膠錶帶鑲嵌黑色寶藍水晶”——價值4000英鎊。

消息人士稱：“這些表都是買給那些在海外大使館工作的英國空軍特別部隊和國防情報特工的，當他們參加一些有外交官和當地名流到場的活動或派對時，看上去就比較像那麼回事兒，都是爲了塑造體面的形象。”

去年，處理服務中心通過售賣不需要的裝備進賬8400萬英鎊。拍賣品除手錶外，還有一些軍用裝備，包括路虎汽車、摩托車，甚至還有英國空軍特別部隊的作戰夾克。

此外，一臺價值6000英鎊的冰箱以920英鎊低價出售；待售品還有輪船氣墊；便攜式的牙醫椅子；甚至還有一座100英尺寬的板梁橋。

網站上還出售自動傾卸卡車、飛機裝載設備、辦公用品、工具，甚至還有山貓直升機飛行員訓練專用的飛行模擬器。

最大的一宗貨品要算皇家方舟號航空母艦了，造價2億英鎊。這艘航母目前在網上拍賣，類似於易趣網站的交易，最近的最高叫價也不過350萬英鎊。

曾做過步兵司令的保守黨議員帕特里克•莫賽爾說：“可以肯定的是，這些曾經價值連城的國防設備賤賣掉之後，不出一個星期，我們又會重新需要它們。花了幾百萬買來的東西現在清倉大甩賣，真是大錯特錯。”