The Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers were built by British firms singled out for criticism

Dominic Cummings has turned his fire on a new target, threatening to take on two of Britain’s biggest defence companies for “ripping off the taxpayer”.

Boris Johnson’s senior aide chaired a meeting last week on the government’s strategic defence and security review and vowed to tear up defence procurement rules.

Sources said he singled out BAE Systems, Britain’s leading defence firm, and Babcock, which is responsible for building the Royal Navy’s two aircraft carriers as well as a generation of submarines.

In exchanges that became “heated”, Cummings urged officials to stop funnelling taxpayers’ money into expensive projects that frequently overrun in both time and costs.

He is said to want to see fewer “bespoke” defence projects and for Britain to buy “off the shelf” from