# Armoured vehicles standing idle



## John A Silkstone (Aug 10, 2009)

MoD attacked over armoured vehicles 'doing nothing' at UK base 
The former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan, Colonel Richard Kemp, has attacked the Ministry of Defence for leaving heavily-armoured vehicles "parked up doing nothing" at a UK base. 

Col Kemp described as "extraordinary" pictures published by the News of the World showing large numbers of vehicles such as Ridgbacks, Bulldogs and Mastiffs at a facility in Gloucestershire.

His outburst came as three Paras killed when their Jackal armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb were named.

The MoD insisted that the equipment at the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency site was to be fitted with armour, radios and to undergo testing.

But Col Kemp said the numbers involved were "disproportionate" and questioned why the potentially life-saving hardware was not at the front line.

"We are continuously told, by people from the Chief of the General Staff downward, that there is a shortage of the right vehicles in theatre," he told the newspaper.

"It seems extraordinary that they should be sitting here parked up doing nothing whatsoever when they are needed out there.

"If you consider that the Viking in which Colonel (Rupert) Thorneloe was killed is a less-protected vehicle than a Mastiff or a Ridgback, you have to ask why they are still running around in Vikings when they could be using the other types of vehicles that are parked up in Gloucestershire," he said - in a reference to the highest-ranking British officer to be killed in more than 25 years.

An MoD spokesman said: "It is completely unsustainable to have all our vehicles in theatre at once. It is imperative that if the mission is to be sustainable, we need to have a fleet in theatre and in the UK for training, maintenance and critical upgrades.

"We have now spent over £1 billion on new vehicles for operations, with a total of 1,200 new vehicles supporting operations that have been ordered over the last two years.

"Vehicles are delivered to DSDA by industry where they are fitted with radios and armour and checked to ensure they are the correct standard to satisfy the troops on the ground.

"They are then either distributed to theatre, used for training or domestic purposes in the UK or held in reserve capability. Vehicles also go through maintenance at DSDA."

The soldiers who died on Thursday were named as Corporal Kevin Mulligan, 26, who was the father of an unborn child, Lance Corporal Dale Hopkins, 23, and Private Kyle Adams, 21.

They were working with special forces at the time, carrying out a routine security patrol with Afghan forces when the vehicle was struck by the blast and came under small arms fire.

Bob Ainsworth , the Defence secretary, said: "These men were highly gifted individuals at the forefront of their profession and their loss is a heavy blow."

Their deaths took the number of British troops who have died in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001 to 195. A record 22 were killed last month.


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