DEFENCE chiefs have spent over £120million on military clothing for the SAS and Paras made by potential enemy China.

has paid out on contracts since 2018, with others agreed since then running until next year.

British Army soldiers from The Parachute Regiment kneeling in a dusty desert with a helicopter landing in the background.MoD chiefs have spent over £120million on military clothing for the SAS and Paras made by potential enemy China Credit: Getty Blurred person walking past a large "GCHQ" sign and logo on a white wall above a blue bench.GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agency, has said China ‘poses a genuine and increasing cyber risk’ Credit: The Times

Among the items supplied are Arctic winter gear for , smocks to keep snipers hidden, thermals for air crew and assault balaclavas, we can reveal.

Yet director general Sir Ken McCallum said last year that threats to the UK from were “escalating”.

He said: “In the last year we’ve seen a 35 per cent increase in the number of individuals we’re investigating for involvement in state threat activity.

“That means espionage, including against our Parliament, our universities, our critical infrastructure.”

GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agency, has said China “poses a genuine and increasing .

In May 2024, Anne Keast-Butler, Director of GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agency, said: “We now devote more resource to China than any other single mission”, and that “China poses a genuine and increasing cyber risk to the UK”.

The companies named in the documents are Cooneen Defence Ltd and Iturri S.A.

The companies supply clothing for the British Armed Forces and the emergency services.

Cooneen Defence Ltd, whose contracts amount to around £75 million, says on its website that garments made for the Ministry of Defence in China “comply fully with rigorous ethical standards”.

But the Clean Clothes Campaign, a pressure group which lobbies for better workers’ rights around the world, claims that up to 84 per cent of all Chinese cotton exports come from the Uyghur region, where up to one million Muslim men and women are being forced to work in labour camps.

Colonel Phil Ingram, a former intelligence officer, said it was “utter madness” to buy military gear from a country “that remains a clear threat and a clear and present danger to British values”.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We have no direct contracts with Chinese suppliers for combat clothing, and the vast majority of our clothing suppliers are based in the UK.

“Where suppliers source textiles from China, strict rules are in place to protect security and prevent modern slavery.”