I listened to the BBC report. The Admiral was asked about lack of batteries. He replied “There were plenty of batteries” and, again, “There was 7 hours worth of batteries”.
Without digging out the spec and doing the maths, I reckon “7 hours worth of batteries” equates to about one semi-discharged battery; depending of course of type of radio, power setting, whether or not you are continually polling trying to find a working frequency, battery chemistry and who it was bought from, etc etc. This is a far cry from “Plenty of batteries”.
Also, by stating there was a finite amount of battery time, the inference is that there was no charging facility available (given the UK philosophy is to use rechargeables).
His replies are largely meaningless, except to indicate a dire shortage of what the MoD term a “Critical Enabling Technology”. That is, you’re screwed without them.
On the other hand, the Coroner heard evidence which led him to state in his verdict;
To reach the position where soldiers stationed at two important observation posts, through a shortage of radio batteries and re-chargers, had to resort to firing shots into the air to attract their colleagues' attention to the presence of a threat simply beggars belief.
In fact the battery situation was so dire that a radio communication channel between the two outposts at Athens and Normandy that should have been open all the time could be opened for only one minute every two hours.
I think we should be told if the above shortages were related to the need to totally recall BOWMAN batteries for REPLACEMENT (not repair) at precisely the time of this tragedy (2006). And, believe me, you don’t replace tens of thousands of batteries at the drop of a hat, when the world’s production plants are flat out supplying the US. Remember, this battery problem came as no surprise whatsoever to the vast majority involved in MoD, or to other suppliers.