Defence committee lays into Brown on helicopter shortage
By politics.co.uk staff
British military operations in Afghanistan are being dangerously undermined by a shortage of helicopters, the Commons defence committee said today.
Commanders are having to rely on ground transport at greater risk to soldiers, MPs found.
The view contradicts the assurances of Gordon Brown over the last few days.
The prime minister has argued strongly that troops were well equipped in the region, and that the latest deaths of British soldiers would not have been prevented with more helicopters.
Earlier, during questioning in the liaison committee, the prime minister refused to say how many helicopters there were in Afghanistan on security grounds, saying: “We are equipped to do the job we’re doing at the moment.”
But the committee disregarded this and called for there to be no further delays in urgently acquiring more helicopters.
And it warned the problem could get worse as a result of the government’s procurement policy.
“We … are convinced that the lack of helicopters is having adverse consequences for operations today and, in the longer term, will severely impede the ability of the UK armed forces to deploy,” the committee said.
“We are concerned that operational commanders in the field today are unable to undertake potentially valuable operations because of the lack of helicopters for transportation around the theatre of operations.
“We are also concerned that operational commanders find they have to use ground transport when helicopter lift would be preferred, both for the outcome and for the protection of our forces.
“Furthermore, we are troubled by the forecast reduction in [the] numbers of medium and heavy lift battlefield helicopters, which will make this worse.”
Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, Nick Harvey said: “It has been clear for years that there has not been enough helicopter capacity, but the Government has failed to respond.
“Our Armed Forces are now paying a heavy price for this, which will simply get worse unless ministers urgently procure more helicopters.”
It is estimated that Britain’s 9,000 troops in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province have fewer than 25 helicopters at their disposal.
The problem has been compounded by the purchase of eight Chinooks from Boeing, which were not fit for British purpose.
James Arbuthnot, chairman of the committee and a former Conservative defence minister, said: “The time has come to appreciate fully the role of helicopters in modern operations. The MoD should seize the opportunity to recognise the importance of helicopters.
The Conservatives are expected to continue the argument in a debate on Afghanistan later today.
