UK helicopters not safe for Afghanistan
August 5, 2009
Helicopters to be sent to Afghanistan may not be able to take part in combat because they lack adequate protection, the Daily Telegraph has reported. Pilots are angry that six Merlins due to go to Helmand in December do not have Kevlar armour, the paper says.
It quotes senior RAF sources who warn this could prevent the craft taking part in missions against the Taliban. Defence chiefs say the Merlins are fitted with ballistic protection and are being modified for operational use.
Pilots told the paper they had called for the Merlin Mk3 helicopters, which will be used to move troops and kit around Helmand, to be upgraded at a cost of around £100,000 each.
Transporting personnel and equipment by air reduces the risk of attack from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which prey on the need for coalition forces to use slow-moving convoys of heavy vehicles to replenish units.
However, pilots have claimed their requests for the helicopter upgrades have been ignored and say they fear the lack of protection could risk lives. “I don’t want people to come back strapped into their seats with bullet holes in them,” a Merlin fleet source told the Telegraph.
“We are going to send aircraft out to Afghanistan that are lacking in the required protection. It will be the same as driving a Snatch Land Rover along a road full of mines.”
However, a Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman insisted that the helicopters would be ready for deployment later this year.
Quotes are from http://news.bbc.co.uk/ where you can get further details.
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