The public know it, opposition MPs have raised it and the army are losing soldiers because of it, and finally a government minister has had the gits to admit we do have a shortage of helicopters in Afghanistan.
The sad thing is that it takes a minister who is standing down to finally have the backbone to admit something that is so patently obvious to everyone else.
On the same theme (of sorts) isn't it time, given the shortage of Chinooks in Afghanistan that the RAF considered suspending its Chinook display team and instead sent them and their crews in Afghanistan ?
3 comments:
Of course even a minister who is standing down cannot remain honest for long. He has had to 'clarify' his comments
It is possible that the 'display team' Chinooks are not capable of being operated in Afghanistan as helicopters need to be 'desertised' for dry and dusty conditions.
All UK Chinooks have been tinkered with and customised for specific conditions as emergencies arose over the years, which means that it is impossible to move them interchangeably between theatres of operation.
To say nothing of the fiasco of the Chinooks we bought from the USA with special requirements insisted on that ended up making them incapable of passing UK airworthiness certificates. I think we are having to scrap these without ever depolying them.
Could someone on our defence team get out a statement on this aspect of the chopper mess?
Indeed the clarification makes the whole thing look even more of a disaster.
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