NEWS IN BRIEF
EUROPE
05 Feb 09. Iraq: OP TELIC. From 1 Jan 06 to 15 Jan 09, 315 personnel were categorised as Wounded in Action and 1,754 were aeromedically evacuated. (MoD, 5 Feb 09.) From 1 to 15 Jan 09 the figures were nil and 17.
The VC10 complement ‘in theatre’ remains at one CMk1K and one KMk3. Over 90 tonnes of aviation fuel was delivered to coalition aircraft during the past week. (RAF Update, 1 Feb 09.)
British Forces in Basrah were on standby to assist during the 31 Jan 09 Provincial Elections but were not needed. (MoD, 2 Feb 09.)
18 members of the UK Armed Forces are working with the NATO Training Mission in Iraq. (Ministerial Answer (MA), 2 Feb 09.)
Plans have not yet been finalised for the recovery of equipment and personnel from Iraq. It is intended “that the majority of the recovery will be conducted by surface means, using MoD Ro-Ro resources as far as possible….”. (MA, 2 Feb 09.)
The Armed Forces’ Minister visited Basrah, “to see for himself how UK Forces have helped to transform the City”. (MoD, 6 Feb 09.)
In a visit on 5 Feb 09 to the Defence Secretary, the Commander of US Central Command thanked the UK for its contribution to progress that has been made in Iraq and Afghanistan. (MoD, 6 Feb 09.)
Comment: ‘The Daily Telegraph’ published (4 Feb 09) a letter from the Chief of the Defence Staff in which he explained that his remarks about the UK’s counter insurgency doctrine, variously misinterpreted, related to the initial approach of the Armed Forces in Iraq (and not Afghanistan). (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/07, 09 Feb 09)
05 Feb 09. Afghanistan: OP HERRICK. From 1 Jan 06 to 15 Jan 09, 567 personnel were categorised as Wounded in Action and 1,667 were aeromedically evacuated. (MoD, 5 Feb 09.) From 1 to 15 Jan 09 the figures were 13 and 34.
Delivery of Ridgback vehicles to Afghanistan is due to start later this year. There are no plans to deploy Ridgback to Iraq. (MA, 2 Feb 09.)
There will be a four month period between the RAF Merlin’s deployment ending in Iraq and deployment starting in Afghanistan. (MA, 2 Feb 09.)
The UK focuses stabilisation activity on five District Centres in Helmand: Lashkar Gah, Sangin, Gereskh, Garmsir and Musa Qala. (MA, 2 Feb 09.)
Royal Marines from 45 Commando destroyed a Taliban base North of the Kajaki Dam. The local Taliban commander was believed to have been killed in the attack. (MoD, 5 Feb 09.)
Crews from the three RAF Lossiemouth Squadrons took their Tornado GR4 to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana for two weeks intense training in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan. (MoD, 5 Feb 09.)
Over 2,000 soldiers from 19 Light Brigade have been taking part in a Mission Rehearsal Exercise on Salisbury Plain. The Brigade is to take over from 3 Commando Brigade as the lead formation of UK Forces in Afghanistan in March 2009. (MoD, 6 Feb 09.)
Comment: The MoD’s Director General of Media and Communications wrote to ‘The Guardian’ (6 Feb 09), denying the paper’s suggestion that the MoD was responsible for naming Miss Rachel Reid as “close” to
Lt Col O McNally. Colonel McNally was arrested in Kabul on 2 Feb 09, accused of breaching the Official Secrets Act, and returned to the UK. The Colonel is said to have passed sensitive information about civilian casualties to Miss Reid, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/07, 09 Feb 09)
12 Feb 09. The MoD and ATLAS Consortium have agreed an extension to its DII (Future) (DII(F)) footprint to the Above Secret domain in a deal worth £191 million to 2015. The ATLAS Consortium will deliver DII Increment 2c, which will provide a version of DII which is capable of handling material classified as Above Secret and allow different parts of the intelligence community to communicate more easily with one another. This is an add-on to the ten year contract to modernise and create a single coherent MOD information infrastructure, awarded in March 2005. The contract