KPax
8th Mar 2006, 19:34
Have copied this from @ARRSE' anyone know any more.
DEFENCE ministers are facing questions about the safety of British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan amid claims that a key defensive system on RAF transport planes was scrapped to save money.
Military sources have told The Scotsman that plans to install a "state of the art" countermeasures system on Hercules aircraft were dropped after the Ministry of Defence decided it would cost too much.
The revelation comes amid a continuing row about an RAF Hercules shot down in Iraq last year with the loss of ten lives.
Several of the aircraft that have been denied the cancelled defensive system are thought to be in regular use in Iraq. Others are said to be scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan.
Despite the decision to scrap the new system - thought to be an electronic jamming device intended to confuse the targeting systems of surface-to-air missiles - defence ministers insist that all British Hercules planes are fully protected from attack.
The MoD last night said: "Only Hercules with appropriate defensive countermeasures are deployed to operational theatres." A spokesman said the planes carry systems to warn pilots of radar sensors and approaching missiles, and to dispense countermeasures to deflect missiles.
But in the case of at least 15 J-model Hercules, the countermeasures system currently in place is said to be inferior to the one that had been scheduled for installation.
DEFENCE ministers are facing questions about the safety of British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan amid claims that a key defensive system on RAF transport planes was scrapped to save money.
Military sources have told The Scotsman that plans to install a "state of the art" countermeasures system on Hercules aircraft were dropped after the Ministry of Defence decided it would cost too much.
The revelation comes amid a continuing row about an RAF Hercules shot down in Iraq last year with the loss of ten lives.
Several of the aircraft that have been denied the cancelled defensive system are thought to be in regular use in Iraq. Others are said to be scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan.
Despite the decision to scrap the new system - thought to be an electronic jamming device intended to confuse the targeting systems of surface-to-air missiles - defence ministers insist that all British Hercules planes are fully protected from attack.
The MoD last night said: "Only Hercules with appropriate defensive countermeasures are deployed to operational theatres." A spokesman said the planes carry systems to warn pilots of radar sensors and approaching missiles, and to dispense countermeasures to deflect missiles.
But in the case of at least 15 J-model Hercules, the countermeasures system currently in place is said to be inferior to the one that had been scheduled for installation.