BBC NEWS | UK | MoD 'ignored' air safety warnings
However Air Vice Marshall Hillier said: "It wasn't a question of not knowing there was the ability to fit explosive suppression foam, it was a question of prioritisation.
"The way we were using the C130 [Hercules] was not in the way the US was using the aircraft in Vietnam - our assessment of the threats was that this was not the highest priority."
I heard the taster of the File on 4 program on the Today program and dear oh dear, the MoD and RAF are still trotting out the same old trite lines. It begs the question, what was the highest priority, installing comfortable chairs in the puzzle palace? Is Hillier basing his answer on the information given to him by his advisers or is there a basic lack of understanding on his part. ESF actually stands for Explosion Suppressant Foam, the foam itself isn't explosive.
AVM Hillier is either out of touch and should resign or he is plain lying and should resign.
He stated that the role of (tactical) C130 Hercules meant it didn't need foam protection prior to the shooting down of XV179. (Completely ignoring the two recommends in 2002 and 2003). The TAT report made its recommendations to urgently fit foam based on the ROLE of the C130 Hercules in Afghanistan and Iraq. Two separate reports, two different theatres coming to the same conclusion that there was a real risk that Hercules would be shot down without fuel tank protection. Need I remind AVM Hillier that this was a Special Forces Hercules that was shot down in 2005 flying at operational low level exposed to all manner of ground fire? Should I remind AVM Hillier that Special Forces crews had been flying ultra low over Iraq since 2003. Should I remind Hillier that a Special Forces Hercules had been holed in the fuel tank 6 months before, luckily, on that occasion, the fuel tank was full of fuel and the bullet failed to ignite the vapours.
Many reports of ground fire on RAF Hercules had been filed in the early phases of the Afghan War in 2001/2002. Including several from myself.
The official RAF website states clearly that throughout the 1990s RAF Hercules sustained ground fire in the Sarajevo airlift, Special Forces crews were shot at on frequent occasions.
The danger and enhanced level of risk is implicit on Special Forces missions. It appears that AVM Hillier is obviously not aware of the global role of Special Forces crews on RAF tactical transport aircraft.
It beggars belief that a senior RAF officer should pretend that Hercules were not at risk from being shot down from ground fire before XV179.
His answers were a disgrace to his uniform and the men who have lost their lives in the RAF. This is merely a cack handed attempt to avoid responsibility. I suggest the first thing Hillier does this morning is to pull out the secret TAT reports of 2002 and 2003 and familiarize himself with the urgent requests to fit ESF which were ignored and which he condoned.