Things
have improved a long way in the last five years when it
comes to the quality of kit and equipment available to British
troops on the frontline, according to an article in the
latest Soldier
magazine. In 2003 UK troops were nickedname "the
Borrowers" by their US allies because of their tendency
to beg, borrow or steal kit (especially boots) from their
better equipped cousins. UK troops
these
days are the envy of their coalition allies: updated SA80
assault rifle, state-of-the-art sighting systems, Osprey
body armour, the new MK6A helmet and ballistic goggles have
made an Op Telic 12 soldier nearly unrecognisable from his
Op Telic 1 variant.
It has
however taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears to move the
MoD along from its conventional Cold War strategic mindset.
The
Nov 5th solution to troop transport [03/11/08]
One
of the US military's main objectives is always to be fastest
when it comes to moving troops to a battlezone, wherever
that may be in the world.
The Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion (SUSTAIN) programme
has been set up by the National Security Space Office to
see that that objective continues to be met.
SUSTAIN,
which brings together officials from all branches of the
armed services, is looking into the possibility of using
rocket-powered troop transports in the future to make sure
that when it comes to a crisis, be it in Tierra del Fuego,
Timbuktu or Tiksi, US forces will always be the first on
the scene.
The
Ministry of Defence is having to reassess its £16bn
programme to buy the next generation of all terrain armoured
vehicles for the Army, the Future Rapid Effects System (FRES),
after mounting delays to the project.
Six
months ago the MoD selected General Dynamics' design for
the fleet of 3,000 new vehicles but delays in finalising
the contract are putting the next stages of the programme
in jeopardy. The MoD intends to draw up separate deals with
other suppliers for vehicle assembly and systems integration.
The FRES has had a troubled history from the
outset
and it was hoped that the selection of GD would mean that
the project would finally get off the ground. From the comments
made - "this has been the worst procurement programme
ever” and
"the entire procurement strategy has been bonkers”
- it sounds as though the MoD still lacks the expertise
to project manage a large scale procurement programme. And
guess who suffers?
'Chronic
under-investment' leads SAS commander to resign [01/11/08]
"chronic
underinvestment in equipment", warnings repeatedly ignored,
the failure to buy better equipment being "cavalier at
best, criminal at worst" - these are the accusations
hurled at the MoD by an SAS commander on his resignation from
the Service.
Major Sebastian Morley claims that the MoD's failure to replace
vulnerable Snatch Land Rovers (nicknamed "mobile coffins"
by the troops) lead
to the needless deaths of four SAS soldiers.
Overall
Snatch vehicles have been involved in the deaths of 34 British
soldiers. The MoD is only now beginning to phase them out.
An SAS trooper said. "Snatch was highlighted as lethal
and useless for two reasons – the armour does not work
as rounds go through it like butter and it has no cross-country
capability, denying us the element of surprise."
Concerns
about the use of Snatch in Afghanistan and Iraq have been
voiced for months yet surprisingly the MoD has recently
ordered more Snatch Land Rovers, though admittedly the more
heavily armoured Vixen variant. Perhaps this latest condemnation
will force the MoD to get its act together and accelerate
their replacement in these particular theatres.
email:
aquilavic[at]hotmail.co.uk
