A controversial £12bn ($20bn) programme to outsource technical training for the military – one of the government’s largest private finance initiatives – is moving ahead even though the final details of the programme have yet to be signed.

The Ministry of Defence has awarded Metrix, a consortium led by Qinetiq, the research group, a £31m contract to begin designing new course materials. Using computer-based learning, Metrix is aiming to reduce training time and costs, and to improve quality.