A life-size model of a fighter jet was on show on a golf course outside the large manor house where David Cameron was hosting Nato leaders yesterday.
An armoured vehicle and mini-tank also drew a few double-takes, while a few paces away a large white pavilion containing random exhibits of military kit was being openly mocked.
“It’s awful,” said a defence industry source, who claimed that a number of large defence companies had been stung for £300,000 by the government for the “honour” of showcasing their goods at the Nato summit in Wales.
“We’ve been sold a pup,” the source said, requesting anonymity. “We are not even allowed to showcase our own stuff. They have got military people with half a day’s training to present it on our behalf.
“It was so ill-conceived, ill-thought through and incompetently handled and there is no purpose to it. Who is here? It was supposed to be an opportunity to showcase our hi-tech kit to all the Nato nations and the participants but they are not interested.”
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The pavilion, which boasted a model of the Royal Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, a bionic hand and a clever bottle that turned pond water into drinking water, certainly did not appear to be attracting any heads of state.
It was a long walk away from the main manor where all the Nato business was taking place and there did not seem to be much evidence of delegates ducking out of discussions about Ukraine and Afghanistan to have a wonder around the stalls.
“Nobody gives a stuff about that and I rest my case,” the defence source said, gesturing over to the pavilion, empty except for a collection of soldiers manning the displays.
Adam Thomas, a spokesman for UK Trade and Industry, strongly defended the initiative.
“We have been really busy,” he said. “We have had overseas representatives from a number of governments who have come to talk to us.
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“We are not here to sell equipment, we are here to promote the expertise.”
Asked about the suggestion that some companies coughed up £300,000 to take part, Mr Thomas said he did not know what the commercial arrangements had been.
As for the suggestion that some people within industry felt that they had been “sold a pup”, he said: “They haven’t relayed that to us. That is not our understanding.”
A spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin, the lead manufacturer of the Joint Strike Fighter, said that the company was grateful for the opportunity to support the summit and showcase the stealth fighter on the golf course.
A spokeswoman for BAE Systems, another exhibitor, echoed the sentiment.
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“We are pleased to support this vital international meeting and to have the opportunity to demonstrate the best of our engineering and technological capabilities,” she said.