Onyl Third of Helicopters Fit For War
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Only Third of Helicopters Fit For War
Thought they might have understood who owned them by now though. So the government claim of "anything they need" means "key tasks" does it?
Torygraph: Third of Army helicopters fit for the front-line
Only a third of military helicopters are fit for front-line duty, seriously hampering operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, figures have shown. The lives of soldiers, reliant on helicopters for medical evacuation in Helmand province, are being further put at risk by a 10 per cent shortfall in air crews.
The Tories, who obtained the figures from the Ministry of Defence, blamed Gordon Brown for the problems because he presided over a £1.4 billion cut in spending on helicopters when he was Chancellor.
Dozens of helicopters have had to be cannibalised in order to keep frontline aircraft flying. The figures show out of a fleet of 40 Chinook transporters, only 17 are "fit for purpose", while 20 out of 60 new Merlin work properly and only 25 Apache attack helicopters are functioning - almost a third of the total.
Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said the shortage was sure to impact on capabilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. "When I visited troops in Helmand Province, in November, it became clear there was a shortage of Apaches and Chinooks to support troops on the ground," he added.
Col Bob Stewart, the former British commander in Bosnia, said the lack of basic equipment "translates into greater casualties". "If you cannot move people by air it means they have to travel by road which leads to a proportionate increase in the dangers faced," he added.
The MoD said commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan had enough helicopters to do "key tasks" although "with more they could do more".
Torygraph: Third of Army helicopters fit for the front-line
Only a third of military helicopters are fit for front-line duty, seriously hampering operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, figures have shown. The lives of soldiers, reliant on helicopters for medical evacuation in Helmand province, are being further put at risk by a 10 per cent shortfall in air crews.
The Tories, who obtained the figures from the Ministry of Defence, blamed Gordon Brown for the problems because he presided over a £1.4 billion cut in spending on helicopters when he was Chancellor.
Dozens of helicopters have had to be cannibalised in order to keep frontline aircraft flying. The figures show out of a fleet of 40 Chinook transporters, only 17 are "fit for purpose", while 20 out of 60 new Merlin work properly and only 25 Apache attack helicopters are functioning - almost a third of the total.
Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said the shortage was sure to impact on capabilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. "When I visited troops in Helmand Province, in November, it became clear there was a shortage of Apaches and Chinooks to support troops on the ground," he added.
Col Bob Stewart, the former British commander in Bosnia, said the lack of basic equipment "translates into greater casualties". "If you cannot move people by air it means they have to travel by road which leads to a proportionate increase in the dangers faced," he added.
The MoD said commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan had enough helicopters to do "key tasks" although "with more they could do more".
Last edited by ORAC; 25th Jan 2008 at 09:21. Reason: sp
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Europe
Posts: 580
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
10 per cent shortfall in air crews
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Temporarily missing from the Joe Louis Arena
Posts: 2,131
Received 27 Likes
on
16 Posts
Third of Army helicopters fit for the front-line
Its like Op Banner reporting all over again.
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Several miles SSW of Watford Gap
Posts: 596
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
HS
Technically the Chinooks and Merlin HC3s do belong to the Army as they are part of JHC which is part of LAND. Therefore, the ac (and 3 RAF Stns) now sit on LAND's asset register. Isn't it nice of LAND to allow us to paint Royal Air Force on the side of their helicopters that our people kindly fly and maintain!
Life used to be so simple in the old days!
Technically the Chinooks and Merlin HC3s do belong to the Army as they are part of JHC which is part of LAND. Therefore, the ac (and 3 RAF Stns) now sit on LAND's asset register. Isn't it nice of LAND to allow us to paint Royal Air Force on the side of their helicopters that our people kindly fly and maintain!
Life used to be so simple in the old days!
Champagne anyone...?
Engineering and spares supply. It's a lack of these that's crippling us here in sunny Wilts and I'll bet it's just the same for the rotary community. When the RAF eventually wake up to this fact we might start seeing some changes but in the meantime we'll just blunder on ever deeper in the morass....
As for aircrew shortages, we're just about getting the bums on seats so that's keeping their bluntships happy. Sadly though I know of at least one sqn that has (flt cdrs aside) no second tourist captains. Genius. Trouble is, when you pay people to leave at their 16/38 point it's a non brainer for them. FRI? No money for those. I can guarantee you they're cheaper than another smoking hole in the desert though.
Fools
As for aircrew shortages, we're just about getting the bums on seats so that's keeping their bluntships happy. Sadly though I know of at least one sqn that has (flt cdrs aside) no second tourist captains. Genius. Trouble is, when you pay people to leave at their 16/38 point it's a non brainer for them. FRI? No money for those. I can guarantee you they're cheaper than another smoking hole in the desert though.
Fools
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Wilts
Age: 53
Posts: 92
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
As for aircrew shortages, we're just about getting the bums on seats so that's keeping their bluntships happy. Sadly though I know of at least one sqn that has (flt cdrs aside) no second tourist captains. Genius. Trouble is, when you pay people to leave at their 16/38 point it's a non brainer for them. FRI? No money for those. I can guarantee you they're cheaper than another smoking hole in the desert though!!
I remember raising said issue about C-130 dilution of experience to an MOD 1 star while doing my FSC at Bentley Priory in 2000 and was told it wasn't a problem as all the captains had been in the right hand seat and therefore captaincy was their second tour on type.
Aaaarrggghhh!!
I remember raising said issue about C-130 dilution of experience to an MOD 1 star while doing my FSC at Bentley Priory in 2000 and was told it wasn't a problem as all the captains had been in the right hand seat and therefore captaincy was their second tour on type.
Aaaarrggghhh!!
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
And you think that is restricted to the AAC? How many SH aircraft are fit for front line duty? Why do the same cabs keep getting rotated through the sandpit? Hold on, let me guess...
None of this is news to the rotary community. As for the 10% shortfall in aircrew, it is about to get far, far worse. Noone is planning to sign on.
Hypothetically, if there was a flight of 30, and 20 were first tourists or LCR, would that worry anyone?
Howabout if 8 out of the remaining 10 were due out in the nest 2-3 years and dead set on leaving ?
Worries the cr@p out of me, and Im going!
Hypothetically, if there was a flight of 30, and 20 were first tourists or LCR, would that worry anyone?
Howabout if 8 out of the remaining 10 were due out in the nest 2-3 years and dead set on leaving ?
Worries the cr@p out of me, and Im going!
No mention of the Junglie Sea King Mk4's and their crew's currently doing sterling work in "The Stan
