A cross-party group of MPs has issued a damning verdict on the way defence equipment is bought.

Urgent requirements in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken priority over long-term planning, putting the defence industry and the UK's future position at risk, a report from the Commons defence select committee said on Thursday.

Delays to projects were described as "deeply disappointing" and one programme was branded a "fiasco" by the MPs.

Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), the body responsible for equipping the armed forces, had been "impressive" at delivering supplies to the two theatres of war, "often in very challenging requirements", MPs said.

But while Urgent Operational Requirements (UORs) were "effective", they were concerned that they represented a failure to meet expected, non-urgent requirements and were eating into future budgets.

DE&S' performance in long-term procurement had "declined significantly" in 2007/08, with a £205m increase in costs and forecast delays of 100 months in the year on the 20 largest projects. Targets in 2008/09 were also expected to be missed, the report warned.

This was partly because staff working on long-term staff had been transferred to work on short-term projects, but the select committee also questioned why the improvements promised by the use of 'smart procurement' principles and the creation of DE&S two years ago had not materialised.

Their report catalogued problems with a number of equipment programmes, including a two-year delay to the A400M aircraft programme which, MPs suggested, might lead to its abandonment.

There were also the "deeply disappointing" delays to delivery of the aircraft carrier and Joint Strike Fighter aircraft because of budget pressures. These delays were likely to increase the cost of the programme in the long term, MPs predicted.

The FRES armoured vehicle programme was a "fiasco", the report said, with no utility vehicle expected in the next decade. "This programme was poorly conceived and managed from the outset. The MoD has wasted both its and industry's time and money," MPs said.

Further delays to equipment programmes could be announced in the coming months as the 2009 planning round is completed.

Industry insiders told the committee that defence spending was "in limbo" and MPs have condemned the department's failure to update the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) in either 2007 or 2008, and the "short-sighted" reduction in spending on research.

Failure to plan ahead meant the defence industry "will not be able to meet the future requirements of our armed forces", the report concluded.

Defence equipment minister Quentin Davies said the MoD was "rightly" focused on getting equipment "out to those who need it most". There had also been the successful delivery of long-term projects such as Sentinel R1 aircraft with ASTOR radars and the Type 45 destroyer HMS Darling, as well as £700m promised for new armoured vehicles, he said.

The government remained "fully committed" to the DIS, Davies said, but he added: "Industry has made clear to us at the highest level that they do not want a new version of the DIS at the present time and I think it is right for us to take that view into account."