Having read the thread and the articles it merely confirms my opinion that the politicians will manipulate anything they are given to suit their rhetoric (dodgy dossier anyone?). I fail to believe that our seniors did not tell them of the risks of sending 3300 lightly armed troops into an area three times the size of Wales with minimum air cover and immobile artillery (due to air/road lift not lack of wheels!). However, sent they were and in the guano they have landed.
Some of the suggestions on here have been slightly off-piste though. Jaguars - have a look at the stats, Khandahar is the only airfield available, 3300amsl and +40-50c on an 8500ft runway . . . just not enough curvature there.
Hawks - excellent idea, but they're declared under the CFE treaty as 'training' and cannot be operationally deployed (tried to during Sierra Leone and told it would be too difficult to re-negotiate CFE!)
Tornado - not a chance. Airfield is ropey as hell (operating surfaces) and Tornado would act as a very effective FOD sweeper, but only once!
Air show princess (aka Typhoon). No, see Tornado and double the cost.
The only alternative (within the realms or reality i.e. not a new buy) is an increase in Harriers and AH. However, as neither are in plentiful supply (or working) we're kind of stuck with what we've got - 6 Harriers, 6 AH, 3300 troops to try to look after an area 3 times the size of Wales inhabited by people who have never been conquered, guarding a lifestyle that we are trying to destroy. All in all, not a recipe for success, but then again, you get what you’re willing to pay for. This and previous Governments aren’t willing to pay for it (tail to teeth, options for change, peace dividend ring any bells?) and no amount of running around now will rectify the situation in the short or medium term.
BTW, when you look at the numbers (as the treasury does) how can the Army be overstretched with an total of 106000, and only 12000 deployed, even on 6 month tours that means that each unit should only be deploying once every 3-4 years? RAF numbers similar: 44000 total, 3800 deployed.
Just before the spears turn me into the first human-sized model porcupine, I know what the issues are, and that the same people are deploying, and that there is critical overstretch in certain trades and functions, but the bean counters can only cope with simple numbers and they don’t let reality interfere with a good submission.
