UK seeks hundreds of new armoured vehicles for Afghanistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Sept 28, IRNA
UK-Afghanistan
Britain's Ministry of Defence is seeking to buy hundreds of new armoured vehicles to protect soldiers against roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was reported Sunday.
The ministry is asking the Treasury for Pnds 500 million (Dlrs 900 m) to replace the Army's snatch Land Rovers, which were originally designed for operations in Northern Ireland almost 20 years ago, the News of the World said.
More than 30 British soldiers have been killed in the last five years while patrolling in snatch Land Rovers, which have been criticised for offering insufficient protection.
According to the News of the World, some 100 Jackal patrol 4x4s and 100 supply vehicles, based on the Mastiff patrol vehicle, are at the top of the UK's shopping list. Both have already been used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new vehicles could be in the field by the start of 2009 if the budget is approved by the Treasury. The ministry has already said it was reducing the number of snatches - about 100 have been in use by British troops in Afghanistan.
Defence chiefs were quoted saying on Saturday that Britain was planning to "transfer some equipment from Iraq to Afghanistan next year - such as helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles" instead of redeploying the remaining 4,000 troops stationed at Basra airport.
The ministry was reported to have decided against transferring the troops when their mission comes to an end because Britain was no longer able to sustain the continued deployment with over 8,000 soldiers already in Afghanistan.
"Our desire is to get back into balance and stay in balance and not to invest elsewhere," defence sources told the Financial Times.
The return of the forces in Iraq would bring the UK back into line on how many expeditions Britain could mount at any one time, it said.
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