Afghanistan Deployment
 

Following speculation in The Sun this morning, Dr Liam Fox (Shadow Defence Secretary) asked an Urgent Question in Parliament to John Reid: Could he confirm the details published in The Sun that 4,000 personnel will deploy to the Helmland province in April/May?

Reid stated that there were 3 criteria that would determine whether British forces would deploy:

1. That the British military configuration is sufficient to meet the task at hand.

2. That the economic aid to Afghanistan to provide alternative forms of agriculture and employment is sufficient.

3. That the NATO configuration around British forces satisfied him.

He said that although he was satisfied with the 2 first criteria, he was not yet satisfied by the latter criterion.

The Sun was right that an imminent decision was expected, but the speculation was no different to the speculation the same paper first published last year on August 22nd. As it happens, he intends to make a statement tomorrow (Thursday 25th), subject to approval from the House authorities, and following further consultation with the Cabinet. His intention is to make the statement as soon as possible after Cabinet consultation in order to avoid leaks.

His conclusion was that the media speculation "could be right, or it could be very, very wrong indeed."

Dr Reid also confirmed that he would be taking the RAF's overstretched air transport fleet into careful consideration before making any decision.

All of this is extremely important to thousands of servicemen and women and their families. Some of those servicemen and women's lives will be put in danger, supporting the NATO operation. One could ask, therefore, why about three quarters of the House's members vanished after PMQs? I wonder how many "honourable" members will be in the House to hear Reid's statement tomorrow...

To expand on this theme, there is an article on Flight Magazine's web site dated today:-
Afghan ops expansion to add strain on RAF transport aircraft
http://www.flightinternational.com/A...transport.html
Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup is quoted as saying “Two [simultaneous] operations will put considerable stress on our air transport fleet,” he says, adding: “We can cover the operations, but it will be testing.” and he also wants to see an “early solution” to its delayed Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme. See the above link for the full article.

2,000 Canadian Forces personnel are tasked to go, but we're starting to wonder over here if anyone else is showing up...

If 'nothing has been decided' we better start packing then...:hmm:

Has anybody said what the mission will be? The news is full of sending Apaches and paras, but there wasn't much hint of what the mission will be... And yes, I am fully aware of BEADWINDOW, but I just thought I'd ask and see if anyone actually knew...

Best start pulling the AN124's back from maintenance then:E

VEEPS

Compressorstall,

Dr Reid said in the House that the current role of the British forces in Afghanistan (about 850 personnel) is to support the US-led counter-terrorism mission. The possible deployment later this year is not part of that mission.

As part of the NATO-led ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) mission under the British Op FINGAL, the British forces would be responsible for conducting the full spectrum of PSOs: peacemaking in Helmland, peace enforcement elsewhere, and peacekeeping where necessary. Although the insurgency in Afghanistan is somewhat smaller than that in Iraq, Op FINGAL may become complicated by the attempts to rid Afghanistan of opium poppies as a primary industry. Given the amount of money lavished on local warlords by drugs barons, it is unlikely that they will give up without a fight. Helmland is the home of some of the most ruthless warlords and has been difficult to police adequately; hence the possible commitment of a large force of highly mobile forces to the area.

At the moment, Dr Reid will not cofirm the commitment of British troops to the mission, although Britain takes over the command of the NATO Rapid Reaction Force (NRF) from France in June. Many parts of HM Forces are already committed to NRF due to French shortfalls anyway. The reason Reid is reticent to confirm the details is that other NATO contingent forces have pulled away from the mission, considering it too risky. The next force outside Britain to make an announcement should be Holland, after extensive consultation in Parliament, some time next week.

It must be emphasised, lest anyone think that this is Britain supporting American aggression, that this is a NATO mission under NATO command, born under Article V (collective defence) after al-Qaeda's attacks on the USA.

All open source stuff.

Thanks Tablet. I was just cautious that much was being made of the deployment of troops, but no mention of what they were really reauired to do. Interestingly, with just over 3000 going the traditional scale of things means that only 1 in 10 will be a bayonet, which doesn't give much capacity to go out and do Army stuff, despite the presence of the Attack Helicopters. If you look on the map, Helmand is a big place.

Just to add to tablet_erasers comprehensive post,

It is worth pointing out that the "around 3000" UK troops wil be part of an additional complement from NATO of around 6000, who will be augmenting an existing NATO force of 10,000 who have been in Afghanistan for some time, to make a total NATO commitment of 16,000.

The Dutch appear to be hesitating over the degree of overlap with the ongoing but entirely seperate US led force who are actively pursuing the resurgent Taliban in the more Northern parts of the country. They will be entirely seperate forces who will be kept apart conducting very different missions but able to "support" each other. I don't blame the Dutch for wanting that fully clarified before they extend their commitment. They have had ground forces, Apaches, SH and F-16's committed in theatre for some time, an additional 1200 Dutch troops is quite a lot for a small country.

Forgive my ignorance, but with the current manning strength and overstretch, doesn't this proposed Afghan deployment mean that a significant number of our troops will actually have to transfer from Iraq?

27mm-

Probably not, it will mean shorter turn round times between tours, leading to more pressure on famillies and less time for training, leave etc..

How we're going to get them there, supply them and get them home while maintaining the Iraq airlift which is already creaking badly is another matter. Presumably if 16AA Bde go it will involve AH and SH as well- seems like our C17's are going to be busy (busier).

Comments from the AT world perhaps??

AW&ST - 23 Jan: The British Defence Ministry is seeking funds to bring forward its planned acquisition of another Boeing C-17 airlifter. The UK is purchasing the four aircraft it has leased. London had planned to buy a fifth aircraft early in the next decade, but the pentagon´s move to end production in 2008 is forcing the UK to consider an earlier acquisition.

Surely one more C17 won't actually make that much differenec? Also, the procurement lead times mean that the stretched AT Fleet is going to have to bear the brunt of this without respite for some time. This deployment will also mean extra intra-theatre airlift as the distance will be too great for the Chinooks.
Interesting times, although the Apache drivers may get all the ammunition they want...

It has also been widely speculated that there will be a fairly significant Reservist element to this UK deployment (that's for the ones who are true part-timers that haven't already exceeded their call-up "quota" over the last few years ;) )

Wycombe

TA have been there for some time:

From the Telegraph, 07/03/2004

The SAS, Britain's elite fighting unit, has been forced to call up part-time reservists to help in the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

The decision was forced on British commanders because all available full-time members of the regiment are taking part in operations in Iraq.

full article

Details Of Deployment
 

The Secretary of Defence, Dr John Reid, made a statement to Parliament on 26 Jan concerning the future deployment of British Forces to Afghanistan. The main points and key quotes are as follows:

The deployment will aim to support ISAF's Stage 3 expansion into Southern Afghanistan. This is a very difficult area; the Taleban and drugs traffickers are strong, the Government and security forces are weak. The current expansion of ISAF in the North and West, and Stage 3, are at the request of the democratically-elected Government of Afghanistan, and under the auspices of the UN.

Britain currently commands the Northern section of ISAF. Our responsibilities there will be handed over to German, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian forces. In the West we will hand over to Italy and Spain who will lead ISAF there, with Lithuanian and American forces in support.

The US has offered to provide attack and support helicopters (AH and SH), and other nations are intending to supply fast jets and air transport.

Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) remain key to ISAF's mission to restore Afghanistan as a viable, reconstructed state.

HMG had previously announced the deployment of the HQ group of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRF) from May 06 to Feb 07, putting ISAF (via NATO) under the command of Gen Richards.

Between now and July, this constitutes an additional 850 personnel in preparation for the main deployment.

The main deployment will have at its heart a new British-led PRT at Helmland's capital. The PRT will be based on a triumvirate of the BritMil cdr along with officials from the FCO and DfID.

Helping Afghanistan's anti-narcotics forces helps them and us at the same time, due to the fact that over 90% of the heroin used in the UK is derived from Afghan opium poppies. Helmland is the largest single source of opium in Afghanistan.

The PRT itself will be part of a larger British force providing security to Afghanistan. This force will be over 3,300-strong, and will come under the command of a new Multinational Bde South which will intially be under Canadian command. Command of the Bde will alternate between Canada and Britain.

The British Helmland Task Force will include:
Elements of HQ 16AAB and and airborne infantry battle-group based initially around 3Bn Para Regt.
8 Apache AH-47 from 9 Regt AAC.
4 Lynx SH from 9 Regt AAC.
6 Chinook SH from 27 Sqn.
Scimitar and Spartan armoured vehicles from the Household Cavalry Regt.
Battery of 105mm light guns from 7 (Para) Regt Royal Horse Artillery.
Desert Hawk UAVs from 32 Regt RA.
13 Air Assault Regt.
29 Regt RLC.
7 Bn REME.
16 Close Spt Med Regt.
4 RAF C130s.

The force should be fully operational by July.
The total number of all personnel deployed will number some 5,700 at the peak of the deployment, and should settle at around 4,700 personnel after the engineers and Harriers withdraw in July and June respectively. The forces will then comprise those required to command ISAF (300 troops in support and training roles), and the Helmland Task Force.

Reservists will act in support, most drawn from the Royal Rifle Volunteers of 4Bn Para Regt.

ISAF mission is focused on reconstruction, and resources will be supplied to make this possible. It will be a 3-year deployment, costing around £1bn over 5 years. Resources will be made available commencing this FY.

To begin with, the Multinational Force will come under the Coalition as a normal part of the handover. American and Canadian troops are already working in the South, and other ISAF contingent forces will need time to build up before the Coalition can hand over to ISAF.

Tablet beat me to it.

Edited to add

Bye then Harry.

bbc

Deployment
 

You missed one small part there, a 3 year comitment. Bye bye to all home time for the SH and roulemont Army units.

Sorry
 

Sorry if I was being a bit quick off the mark :uhoh: doesn't normally happen :D