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EUROPE
01 Sep 10. Afghanistan: OP HERRICK. From 1 Jan 06 to 15 Aug 10, 1,429 personnel were Wounded in Action and 3,761 were aeromedically evacuated. (DASA, 1 Sep 10). From 1 to 15 Aug 10 the figures were 19 and 61.
134,000 Afghan soldiers and 106,000 Afghan Police have been trained by ISAF Forces. The NATO target is 171,000 soldiers and 134,000 Police by 31 Dec 11. (MoD, 25 Aug 10.)
Instead of a 7.62mm general purpose machine gun (GPMG), Sea King HC4 helicopters are being fitted with a door-mounted FN M3M 0.5 inch (12.7mm) weapon system. (MoD, 25 Aug 10.)
British Officers are ‘mentoring’ Afghan instructors at the Kabul Military Training Centre. (MoD, 31 Aug 10.)
The Deputy Prime Minister visited troops serving in Helmand Province, during a two-day visit (30/31 Aug 10)to the region.
Comment: Speaking at Camp Bastion, the Deputy Prime Minister said: “By 2015 there will not be any British combat troops in Afghanistan.”. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/34, 06 Sep 10)
03 Sep 10. France: Defence Co-operation. The Defence Secretary travelled to Paris (3 Sep 10) for discussions with his French counterpart,
M. Hervé Morin. Dr Fox said: “Mr Morin and I discussed many issues including, of course, Afghanistan but also NATO and Europe. I have found our meeting to be informative and productive and I look forward to working closely together in the future.”. Answering some of the wilder media speculation, the Defence Secretary continued: “In terms of actually being able to share an aircraft carrier, I would have thought that that was utterly unrealistic.”. The Ministers have agreed to meet again in mid-October (prior to a NATO Summit in Lisbon on 19/20 Nov 10).
Comment: ‘Anglo/French Defence Co-operation’ is well established and the Defence Committee Report of that title (HC 91) dated 27 Nov 91 makes interesting reading 19 years later. The Committee recorded “the enthusiasm felt by Government and Industry for closer procurement collaboration” and then noted that France and the UK were collaborating on 22 Defence projects. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/34, 06 Sep 10)
03 Sep 10. Military Aviation Authority (MAA): Transfer of Responsibility
Convening Authority responsibilities for all MoD Aviation Service Inquiries passed to the MAA on 1 Aug 10. 170 staff, drawn from existing regulatory organisations, work for the MAA; this number is set to increase to 250 by mid-2011. The MAA, with headquarters at MOD Ensleigh in Bath, is currently spread across several sites but is due to collocate in April 2011 as part of the Bath Accommodation Project.
Comment: The establishment of the MAA was a key recommendation of the Nimrod Review Report published on 28 Oct 09, following the loss of Nimrod MR2 XV230 over Afghanistan on 2 Sep 06. Having acquired a full transfer of authority, the MAA undertook its first investigation on 10 Aug 10, following an accident involving a Chinook in Afghanistan in which a Gurkha Rifleman died. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/34, 06 Sep 10)
05 Sep 10. Eta, the violent Basque separatist group, on Sunday announced it had ceased “armed att