EUROPE
Aug 06. Iraq: OP TELIC. In the period from March 2003 until 30 Jun 06, 254 personnel were admitted to the Shaibah Field Hospital having been wounded in action. During the same period 6,949 personnel were admitted for disease or non-battle injuries. Some 4,370 personnel were medically evacuated from Iraq. (MoD figures.) A 19-year-old female medical orderly “braved sniper fire to save the life of a critically injured colleague” during a fire fight in Maysaan Province in June 2006. (MoD PR 222 of 9 Aug 06.)
Comment: Interesting coverage of the situation in Basrah is published in the current (12 Aug 06) edition of ‘The Economist’ under the heading ‘Iraq – Mayhem in the South too’. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0631, 14 Aug 06)
08 Aug 06. Afghanistan: OP HERRICK. In the period from 1 Jan to 30 Jun 06, 84 personnel were aeromedically evacuated from Afghanistan. (MoD.) A Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) Private was killed in action in Northern Helmand on 6 Aug 06. A second RLC Private was killed in a road traffic accident in Kabul on 9 Aug 06. The number of UK deaths since the start of Operations in November 2001 thus rose to 18 (six accidentally and 12 killed in action). OP SNAKEBITE, which involved over 500 British troops, was concluded late on 6 Aug 06. The Operation intercepted Taliban command and control in Musa Qaleh. (MoD, 8 Aug 06.) General Richards intends to re-balance his Forces “in order to generate a capable manoeuvre Force”. Afghan National Army units are to replace British soldiers in some areas. (MoD, 11 Aug 06.)
Comment: It is understood that a major campaign is to be launched against the Taliban, focussed on four Southern provincial capitals: Lashkar Gar, Kandahar, Qalat and Tarinkowt. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0631, 14 Aug 06)
14 Aug 06. U.K. Military Copes With Looming Copter Shortage. Britain’s Ministry of Defence has taken the first steps to lease as many as 41 medium-lift helicopters under a more than 400 million pound ($761 million) deal to avoid a gap in vertical-lift capabilities once existing aircraft begin retiring in 2010.
For the moment, the MoD will ask only for expressions of interest to provide civil-owned, military-registered (COMR) helicopters to replace aging Puma and
perhaps even Sea King aircraft slated to be retired starting in 2010. The MoD request was released one day before a hard-hitting Aug. 10 Parliamentary
Defence Select Committee Report that blasted the government for sending troops to Iraq without sufficient equipment, like vehicle armor and helicopters. Britain’s interest in new choppers is focused on a 10-year lease of 23 helicopters for battlefield lift with an option for another 18 machines for littoral applications. The lease would be an interim step until the government finds the funds to purchase its own medium-lift helicopter fleet in a process sources said is unlikely to begin before 2015, at the earliest. The MoD said it intended to explore in parallel other options, including life extension and upgrade of existing Pumas and Sea Kings. Bringing mothballed Sea Kings out of storage is another option. If the lease deal goes ahead, however, it would be the first time British civil-owned military equipment could be directly deployed on a future battlefront. The MoD acknowledged that the approach poses difficult questions, including insurance provisions and possible limitations on the use in combat. (Source: Defense News)
17 Aug 06. Is CTA back in front? Sources close to BATTLESPACE suggest that the CTA solution for the Warrior WLIP Program is now back on course with the weapon also being pushed for the FRES requirement. The trials led by cavalry officers at Bovingdon are said to be proceeding well. However the MoD is believed to have been taken aback by the other turret/gun solutions offered for the WLIP, none offered a CTA solution. CTA has always been championed by the cavalry after its choice for TRACER/FSCS, however the WLIP requ