I have had my concerns about helo self-protection for some time, but have not dared go public because of Talib stated intent to bring down coalition helos in theatre. It is not very clever to expose ANY weakness in public or to explore the detail. Regarding RN aircraft, I have intimate knowledge of how RN handled the mid-air tragedy at the start of GW2, the disgraceful way the families were kept in the dark. They will not get away with it again, I urge anyone to listen to R4 File on 4 recent program.
The real problem here, for a "can do" UK military is that there is a job to be done, in achieving the task, safety is having to take a back seat, because, relatively speaking, the risks soldiers are having to take on the ground are far greater.
MoD has learned nothing from the Nimrod, Herk, or Sea King tragedies.
Whatever happens, commanders will be criticised. Deploy Merlin crews without adequate protection, or keep them out of theatre and watch more soldiers being blown up in vehicles without adequate protection.
This is what happens when gung ho military planners, generals and clueless politicians launch into a war without proper funding, equipment or manpower.
Questions;
Has Westland been leaned so much there is no capacity for parallel production line?
If no, does the Danish order have priority over our own?
Who is paying the slippage for any delay in delivery schedule for the replacement Merlins bought by Denmark?
Is the forthcoming training mission to California, actually a trial because there is limited read across on clearances between MK3 and MK3A?
Is training/conversion still required from MK3 to MK3A?
Would it have been a better idea to simply have ordered more MK3s?
Last edited by nigegilb; 7th Aug 2009 at 12:01.