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Flying shame
6 new Chinooks ready for war but only enough crew to fly 2
EXTRA helicopters cannot be rushed to Afghanistan because there are not enough crews to keep them in the air.
The RAF and Army Air Corps are racing to get six Chinooks modified for the Helmand front line.
But only two will be sent to back up the fighting men.
Armed forces insiders revealed that are there are not enough mechanics and flying crew to service the Chinooks and keep them flying.
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said last night: "We can and we will do more. But I won't put soldiers in helicopters in a war zone until the crews have been trained and modifications made."
An insider said: "The problem isn't getting the airframes out there, it's getting the men and women on the ground to make sure they are maintained and able to operate.
Parked
"There's no point having extra helicopters in Afghanistan if there aren't the guys to fly them and enough manpower to keep them working.
"The turnaround of staff isn't quick enough to have the extra capacity out there. More have to be trained up and it has to be done quickly."
The Mark 3A Chinooks are being taken apart by engineers and rewired by engineers at Boscombe Down, Dorset.
They were brought for £259 million for special forces and delivered to the RAF in 2001 but have been parked for seven years as MoD top brass failed to ask Boeing for the rights to avionics software.
Without the hi-tech modifications the helicopters can't be flown. Instead of being used by the SAS they are being converted back to Mark 3Rs for regular troops in Afghanistan.
Mr Ainsworth also revealed the government is ready to send hundreds more soldiers later this summer. An extra 125 troops are already being sent to maintain force levels. The deployment - it includes specialists to tackle explosive devices - follows requests from commanders.
It will include a company from 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington's), specialists from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment The Royal Logistic Corps and members of 19th Regiment Royal Artillery. Mr Ainsworth said: "This month 20 British soldiers have lost their lives.
"More have been wounded and reinforcements have been called up to make sure the momentum their sacrifices generate is not lost.
"We are fighting in Afghanistan to protect our national security. "A Taliban return would give al-Qaeda greater freedom to plan, more terrorist attacks - probably in Britain." Military rules servicemen can only spend a limited time abroad on deployment.
Those in the RAF are only allowed to spend 280 days in two years away, Army employees are allowed six months in every 30 away and the Royal Navy allows 60 per cent of time to be spent away.
Helicopter pilots and crews do shorter 3-month tours because of long hours and high pressure.
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This article has 3 comments
More helicopters would be great but I think people forget that they are also a potential target! Just because they're in the air doesn't make them invincible.
By Stew.. Posted July 26 2009 at 12:12 PM.
And there was me thinking that the Armed Forces supported each other!..My husband is in the RAF and on numerous occasion has been deployed with Special Forces, often setting foot outside the base!!
I am in KAF at the moment and recently there have been a few attached, IED, VIED's
Have a moan at the politicians and not the other forces
By Sandra Reid.. Posted July 26 2009 at 10:12 AM.
The number of days that different services are away is a load of rubbish, when i was in the Army(1983-2005), and especially during TELIC, i was away on the initial deployment, from March to May 2003, then went back to barracks in Germany, only to deploy again in the October of the same year on TELIC 3, where was the time limit there, and during the 6 months prior to 3, we were obviously doing the necesary training to deploy. And why should the different parts of the forces have different limits, dont tell me that a ground crew in Kandahar have it harder than an infantry man in the wilds of Sangin or Nadi Ali, living on Compo for weeks at a time and facing the threat of IED;s each time they go out, whilst the Aircrew have the boardwalk,( an area of shops and coffee shops in the camp to realx in as well as doughnut shops) alright the kandahar base does get some IDF, occasionally, however the threat is a lot worse with the Army who are on the REAL FRONT LINE, like i said, each and everytime they step out side of there bases, and again unlike the majority of people in the RAF< who never set foot outside the base.
By Graham Simpsob.. Posted July 26 2009 at 4:03 AM.