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EUROPE
21 Aug 10. Afghanistan: OP HERRICK. A soldier from 1st Bn The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment was killed during an exchange of fire in the Nad-e Ali District on 21 Aug 10. UK deaths since the start of Operations on 7 Oct 01 thus rose to 332, of whom 292 were killed as a result of hostile action. (MoD, 21 Aug 10.)
From 1 Jan 06 to 31 Jul 10, 1,410 personnel were Wounded in Action and 3,700 were aeromedically evacuated. (DASA, 17 Aug 10). From 16 to 31 Jul 10 the figures were 30 and 68.
2nd Bn The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment has taken over a new Battle Group area in the Nad-e Ali District. The Battalion is the Theatre Reserve, normally based in Cyprus. (MoD, 17 Aug 10.)
Soldiers from 1st Bn Scots Guards and The Royal Dragoon Guards have been working with Afghan National Security Forces to secure Route 601. The road runs from Lashkar Gah to Kandahar. (MoD, 18 Aug 10.)
Camp Bastion’s Joint Helicopter Force is responsible for around 150 flights a day, operating five types of helicopter (RN Sea King, Army Apache & Lynx and RAF Chinook & Merlin). (MoD, 19 Aug 10.)
“One method of intimidation used by the insurgents is the raising of white flags – a practice that has become synonymous with Taliban rule.” (MoD, 19 Aug 10.)
Comment: An MoD Press Release on 17 Aug 10 quotes a Territorial Army Joint Forces Media Officer: “Even working in Bastion, where there is air-conditioning in a lot of the offices, the few minutes spent outside moving from one tent to another can be an ordeal.”. Doubtless those deployed to the Forward Operating Bases were amused by these observations. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/33, 23 Aug 10)
26 Aug 10. Denmark has turned down a NATO request to send F-16 fighters to Afghanistan as it believes it has done enough for the international military mission there, the foreign minister said Thursday.
“We are one of the countries that contributes the most to Afghanistan,” Foreign Minister Lene Espersen told the media after a meeting of parliament’s foreign affairs committee. (Source: Defense News)
25 Aug 10. Switzerland on Wednesday postponed its search for new air force fighter jets for several years, just weeks before it was expected to announce a decision on the multibillion dollar tender. Swiss Defence Minister Ueli Maurer said at a news conference that the postponement of the replacement of about half of the Swiss army’s ageing fleet of F-5 Tiger aircraft “will last at most until 2015”. The tender launched in January 2008 led to a fierce battle between European aerospace group EADS’s Eurofighter, French firm Dassault’s Rafale and the Gripen built by Sweden’s Saab. The Swiss government said in a statement that it had decided, “on the proposal of the Defence Ministry, to adjourn the partial replacement of 54 obsolete Tiger F-5 aircraft.” It cited budgetary constraints that emerged during the evaluation of the aircraft as well as a desire to use resources to cover other military shortcomings. Switzerland also has 33 US-made FA-18 Hornet fighter jets for its frontline defence force. Maurer, who took office 11 months after the process was launched, was a fi