Where now for Medium Lift Helicopters
- Image via Wikipedia
I have resisted commenting too early on the announcement that the Government is going to scrap the Medium-lift helicopter programme.
As the Prospective MP for Yeovil I am clearly very keen that we back Augusta Westland and I am pleased that there are at least some discussions ongoing as to whether they will be able to manufacture (assemble) the newly ordered Chinooks from Boeing. Westland are doing a fantastically good job in delivering the new Lynx Wildcat on time and under budget and it would be madness for the Government not to consider what this incredibly good manufacturer can do to provide very good levels of product and service.
We are where we are but the reality is we did not need to be here.
Had Gordon Brown not cut over a £1,400,000 out of the helicopter budget in 2004 then the desperately needed Chinooks might well be entering the theatre of war when we need them, not in 2013 when we may well be on our way out of the Afghan conflict
We also have not had a defence review since 1998, even though the type of military action we are to engage in has changed drastically. Instead we are using the dictats of the treasury to govern our defence review instead of carrying out a real future needs assessment and then have a debate about how much of it we can afford.
This Government has behaved offensively towards the armed forces almost from the moment it took office. Whilst Blair was committing the troops to fight more wars than any other peacetime Prime Minster Brown was cutting and cutting the budget.
In my view a good result would be to use whatever it takes to get some of the Chinooks the forces require into action as soon as possible and then immediately after the General election, if the Conservatives were to win it, Liam Fox should call for a defence review in which the entire helicopter capability is reviewed and new plan forged. Only then will we know whether the forces need as many of the heavy lift helicopters that are being ordered or whether there is not some way of delivering a range of equipment more suited to fighting all the battles of the future rather than just Afghanistan.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=6982ebdb-6235-4c5d-8f97-b75b973c2b56)
Entries(RSS)
You'll note the buy has nothing to do with Afghanistan (at least in the near term), no matter how GB&co want this to be presented. The new aircraft will be 'fiddled with' by UK MoD to an extent which will require an awful lot of MoD staff time and uniform time to qualify the aircraft and allow it into service by 201X. (Would someone put the numeral in when it's clear).
You'll also have noted that the RN and RM actually provided the majority of the in-country effort until recently. I can't exactly see the Chinooks as relevant to that. Some Merlins would have made more sense, because they fit on frigates and destroyers and will thus be useful for the next conflict as well as this one. It would also send a clear message to other governments that UK MoD backs the UK product.
This decision seems unwise economically. The country has had to work hard to earn enough money to pay the tax which pays for defence equipment. Then we spend the money overseas where it's lost to the UK economy. Hasn't anyone noticed how much debt we're in already. At times like this the money needs to be spent on UK wages.
Finally, I'm fairly sure that with a line already on the go and several recent deliveries, AW could have delivered earlier and to a standard which is already cleared for use in theatre.
A cynic might suggest this is the RAF fighting for its survival. Chinooks are RAF run. They need lots of engineers to keep them going. They also give the RAF a platform which NEEDS the carriers. No surprise that Jock Stirrup's Chief of Staff these days. I suppose it's also payback for Boeing who've been giving out lots of freebies on Chinook (and will get paid in the next pricing round).
A Westland Worker
The mopre and more you hear about this deal the less of a satistfactory outcome it seems for our troops for our country and for WA. I was particularly struck by your quote:
"A cynic might suggest this is the RAF fighting for its survival. Chinooks are RAF run. They need lots of engineers to keep them going. They also give the RAF a platform which NEEDS the carriers. No surprise that Jock Stirrup's Chief of Staff these days. I suppose it's also payback for Boeing who've been giving out lots of freebies on Chinook (and will get paid in the next pricing round)."
This is a line I had not heard before and would of course be a suitable cover for closing an airbase and losing huge RAF numbers.