It is becoming obvious by the PMs and Postings that there is a lot of concern out there about the level of protection of the RAF AT fleet. The Government and Chiefs of Staff know exactly what brought down XV179 last year and how to prevent it happening again. Armed with this knowledge work should have started last year on providing the Hercules fleet with Explosive Suppressant Foam. No action was taken and by agreeing to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and publishing BOI on the web, every “bad guy” in the World with an internet connection can find out how to shoot a Hercules down.
If the programme to equip the “J” with a “modern” DAS had not been cancelled in 2004, 15 additional aircraft would now have been available for deployment with a “modern” DAS. There is also an urgent need to afford passengers the protection of simple to use lightweight ballistic matting, aka our coalition partners. The failure of the Defence Chiefs and Government Ministers to provide this basic level of protection to Hercules crews and passengers deployed in hostile environments is a scandal. Their dereliction of "duty of care" leaves them open to a charge of gross negligence.