Amazing
I love the way he ends:
'This major delay puts lives at risk; not just in Libya but also in Afghanistan, where the same appalling procedural practices are employed.'
I'm assuming that he is criticising the ATO cycle, but the way he has written his letter, (and given his previous rants I wouldn't be surprised if it was deliberate) the general public reader would assume he meant that Harrier on a carrier in the Gulf could be on task in Afghanistan in 30 minutes.
Given the return distance for such a sortie is approx twice the unrefuelled range of Harrier, how would Mr Ward propose to achieve this? He seems to think it unreasonable that RAF aircraft might need AAR for some tasks, so I assume he would impose the same constraint on his own service?
Perhaps he will next propose the building of a canal through Pakistan?
Or perhaps the answer in some cases is land based aviation.
I used to get annoyed at Mr Ward's drivel, but now I just can't help laughing out loud. Keeps me amused for days.
Last edited by fin1012; 1st Jul 2011 at 09:40.