A range of base protection equipment, including surveillance equipment, communications equipment and logistics equipment will be bought with the additional funding. It will enable UK forces to continue to increase the number of bases in Afghanistan as the force thickens in central Helmand, and to partner the Afghan security forces more effectively.
Today's announcement is in addition to the £67m already announced by the Prime Minister on 10 June, for the counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) campaign.
Countering the IED threat faced by our forces in Afghanistan is a top priority. The Secretary of State for Defence said: "There are real challenges; the threat does not stand still and nor does our response. I will make sure that everything possible is done to ensure that our forces have what they need to deal with this indiscriminate threat."
"They deserve nothing less. As I have seen during my visits they are doing fantastic work in Afghanistan in support of the UK's national security."
The Secretary of State has also made it clear when looking to the future that when the Afghan security forces have been sufficiently trained to take control, our troops can withdraw: "...our forces are making progress. In Helmand, the heartland of the insurgency, six districts were under government control in 2008 - now 11 out of 14 are.
"We are also ahead of target in training the Afghan National Security Forces. As soon as they are able to keep their country secure our forces can come home."
The equipment package for operations and pre-deployment training includes the following:
Base equipment (£158m) including:
* secure communications systems
* ground-based ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) systems to protect bases
Dismounted Close Combat equipment (£19m) including:
* Osprey body armour and helmets
* weapons systems including light and heavy machine guns and combat shotguns
* weapon sights and night vision equipment
Other (£12m) including:
* additional MAN logistics support vehicles modified for use in Afghanistan (equipping existing vehicles to Theatre Entry Standard to allow them to deploy)
The C-IED equipment package announced by the Prime Minister on 10 June 2010 (£67m) includes:
* Mastiff protected mobility vehicles
* remote-controlled vehicles
* specialist IED disruptive and exploitation equipment
* highly trained military working dogs
These additional resources are aimed at dealing both with the IED threat of today whilst looking to the future by partnering with the Afghans, to whom responsibility for security will be transferred.
Posts
Sounds good, but are the MAN trucks still fitted with the Modular Armoured Cabin. It only protects against AP mines. The Integrated Armoured Cabin provides protection at STANAG 4569 Level 3b, i.e. 8kg n.e.q. mine under the vehicle. This should be the standard level of protection in a Country like Afghanistan. The vehicle should be armoured to it's maximum possible, it's the least the Government should do to protect the troops. Independent suspension may be the way forward for vehicles in Afghanistan, as there is not a great deal of good road there. Dogs are always useful to sniff out explosives. If the new Government are serious about protecting us from explosives at UK airports Dogs should be used. I know they work well & fast.
ReplyDeleteThe Mastiff is a good vehicle, but have the MOD looked at Universal Engineering's Ranger. If the Ranger does what it's manufacturer says, it would be an asset to any unit in Theater.It's protection is said to be very good and can feature Explosive Reactive Armor. Independent suspension would provide a better quality of ride than the cart springs on the Mastiff & we would be buying British, in this credit crunch. On the matter of ride quality, this would benefit any ambulance version. I hope most of our MAN trucks in afgan are of the SX range, because of their Coil suspension.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about the 'ins' and 'outs' but 12.35 & 12.27 appear to; perhaps I can be so bold as to suggest that you send your comments to Dr Fox...anything that helps protect our troops is worth investing in - and as 12.27 mentioned, buying British has to be good.
ReplyDeleteSlightly less money than CFC turned over in 2007: http://bit.ly/9hCTNa
ReplyDelete