200 Royal Marines, 18 Choppers, and They're Not Ready Yet
All The News That Doesn't Fit
200 Royal Marines, 18 Choppers, and They're Not Ready Yet
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
[The Brit Marines "aren't ready yet" and what's not ready consists of
200 Marines and *18* helicopters! One Vietnam-sized firebase! They'll
lose those the first week!
"Oh, and by the way, we have to clear out of Oman by Ramadan,"
so it's unknown where the lads will be doing their extra training to
"get ready." Meanwhile, the Brit desert tanks don't like sand....
So while Admiral Sir Michael Boyce is all set for a 50-year hot cold
war, he's not set, just yet. Looks like the USA USA USA will have to
keep dropping cluster blombs on civilians for the next month or two
while everyone suits up. ]
The Independent - 29 October 2001
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=102003
Marines are not yet ready, says brigadier
By Kim Sengupta
British forces will not be ready to undertake a land war in
Afghanistan for weeks, and must not be pushed into premature action,
senior officers warned yesterday.
The commander of the Royal Marines, the troops expected to perform
difficult and dangerous raids against Taliban and al-Qa'ida
positions, stressed the need not to be "hasty", while senior naval
officers said that extensive preparations had to be made before the
force could be deployed on the ground.
Brigadier Roger Lane, the commander of 3 Commando Brigade, Royal
Marines, spoke about the impending land war as exercise Saif Sareea
(Swift Sword) II, the biggest deployment of British troops since the
Falklands war, was coming towards its end.
A Lynx helicopter was lost overboard from a Royal Navy frigate on
Saturday evening, it was disclosed yesterday. Two crew members were
rescued from the sea, and are said to have suffered only minor
injuries.
Brigadier Lane said: "I want to make sure the forces are totally
prepared. We don't want to be hasty, we want to be right. We must
make sure we have the broad range of capabilities we need. We will be
ready when we are ready."
The 200 marines who will form the nucleus of the British task force
will perform two weeks of live firing exercises in Oman before they
set off for Afghanistan. However, they cannot stay in Oman after that
due to the extreme sensitivity over the conflict throughout the
Muslim world.
Brigadier Lane said: "We have made a commitment to the Omanis that we
will withdraw by Ramadan, and I must fulfil that commitment."
The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, which is being stripped of its
fixed-wing aircraft to take on board helicopters that will fly the
Royal Marines into Afghanistan, will also not be ready for some time.
The carrier will receive its complement of helicopters tomorrow, but
it will not be in a position to deploy them for at least another two
weeks, senior defence sources said.
Despite claims by government ministers that British troops will
"smoke out" Osama bin Laden "from his cave", senior military officers
disclosed that no rules of engagement, or command and control for the
mission, or targets had been set up.
Brigadier Lane acknowledged that his task would be hampered by lack
of intelligence from the ground in Afghanistan, a problem noted by
the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce.
"It will limit what we can do," he said. "This will undoubtedly be a
hard campaign to plan. We all said it is not going to be easy."
The Duke of York was among a large number of dignitaries watching a
naval operation during the exercise in Oman yesterday. But Saif
Sareea II has taken on a war footing, with a host of senior military
officers from Britain present, including the Chief of Defence Staff.
The brigadier said: "My men are mature, measured and confident. There
is no triumphalism and this is not a crusade.
"Taking part in the exercise here has opened us to a different
culture and this will be very useful in what we do next," he said.
The Sea Harriers aboard the Illustrious will be replaced by a mixture
of combat and transport helicopters. The carrier expects to receive
four Chinooks, eight Sea King Mark IVs, three Gazelles and three
anti-tank Lynx.
To accommodate them and some of the marine assault party, 144 loads
and 250 passengers have been moved from the ship during the night.
HMS Invincible is expected to be replaced at the end of March next
year by the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean. She has also been taking
part in exercise Saif Sareea II, but is being returned to Britain to
be reconfigured.
*
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=102012
Challenger tanks grind to a halt as desert sand clogs filters
By Kim Sengupta in Oman
Railtrack has the wrong kind of leaves on the line, now the British
Army has wrong kind of tracks on its tanks. That, combined with the
wrong kind of sand meant that Britain's main battle tank, the
Challenger II, kept breaking down during the Saif Sareea 2 exercise
in Oman.
The 67 tanks, costing £2.5m each, had been sent to the Middle East
without being adapted for desert conditions, and as a result, their
filters kept clogging up. There was an additional problem of the
tracks being unable to cope with sand.
The Ministry of Defence had expected the filters to last for 24 hours
each. Instead, they lasted for four. This could have been prevented
by the filters being replaced for about £1,300 each, before they were
sent to Oman.
General Sir Mike Walker, the Chief of General Staff, defending the
decision not to replace the filters, said: "It was done for cost
reasons. That is something you have to take into consideration on any
exercise. There were also problems with the tracks. This was caused
by the type of sand here, it was like talcum powder."
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