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Only a third of UK military helicopters operational

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Jan 25, IRNA
UK Helicopters-Military
Only a third of Britain's military helicopters are fit for front-line duty, seriously hampering operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to new figures obtained by the opposition Conservative Party.

The lives of soldiers, reliant on helicopters for air cover and medical evacuation in the Afghan province of Helmand are being further put at risk by a 10 per cent shortfall in air crews.

The figures show that out of a fleet of 40 Chinook transporters, only 17 are "fit for purpose", while 20 out of 60 new Merlin are fully operational and only 25 Apache attack helicopters are functioning - almost a third of the total.

One of the apparent reasons is that dozens of helicopters have had to be cannibalised in order to keep frontline aircraft flying in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Conservative's shadow defence secretary Liam Fox blamed Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the problems because he presided over a Pnds 1.4 billion (Dlrs 2.8 bn) cut in spending on helicopters when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Fox said the shortage was sure to impact on capabilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. "When I visited troops in Helmand Province in November, it became clear there was a shortage of Apaches and Chinooks to support troops on the ground," he said.

But the Ministry of Defence insisted that commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan had enough helicopters to do "key tasks" but admitted that "with more they could do more".

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