Post by corsair67 on Jan 4, 2007 9:34:05 GMT 12
From the UK Telegraph.
Ageing planes force MoD to pay for civilian troop transporters
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:11am GMT 03/01/2007.
An ageing fleet of RAF transport aircraft has forced the Ministry of Defence to spend £11 million on chartering civilian jets, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
With its 40-year-old Tristar and VC10 passenger aircraft in need of constant repair and a second front opening in Afghanistan, the RAF has turned to non-military airlines to help ferry troops to operational theatres.
Frustration at Britain's vintage military transport fleet has sometimes led to near mutiny among soldiers who have been stranded for days while trying to get home on leave or at the end of a six-month tour.
Figures for the millions being spent on civilian airlines were obtained after a parliamentary question by the Conservatives on the cost of chartered aircraft. The response shows that since last April the MoD has spent £11,303,000 on chartering aircraft from the Icelandic-owned airline Astraeus, the US airline Omni Air and the British VIP charter airline Titan Airways.
"There could not be a clearer example of how botched planning and investment in our Armed Forces is leading to higher costs and a lack of proper kit for our troops," said Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary. "The Prime Minister still seems to believe he can increase commitments without Gordon Brown having to pay for them."
In the answer to the parliamentary question put down by Gerald Howarth, the Tory defence spokesman, on the cost of the charters, Adam Ingram, the minister for the Armed Forces, said the MoD used private brokers to arrange the hire of Boeing 757s and DC10s.
The MoD had been forced to use civilian airlines because there had been a 42 per cent rise in the number of troops transported over the last year with the new deployment to Afghanistan. In the last nine months 37,000 troops have been flown out of Britain.
"We are conducting two air bridges at the same time to Iraq and Afghanistan," an MoD spokesman said. "It often makes no sense to use flying hours of specialised military aircraft when the same task can be performed as well or better – with shorter flying times and more comfortable seats – using commercial alternatives." The MoD added that it was likely to continue with the airlines while it fought conflicts on two fronts and when it "provided better value for money than military alternatives".
A shortfall in transport planes is likely to continue for at least another eight years while the RAF waits for wrangling to be resolved over a contract for new aircraft.
Under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft programme the first of 14 Airbus A330s were supposed to be available for service at the beginning of this year. But the final "main gate" contract has still yet to be signed, with the new in-service date being pushed back to 2013. In the meantime the RAF will have to rely on its nine Tristars and 14 VC10s that were bought second-hand in the 1980s and are no longer operated by any other airline or air force.
An RAF source said the old air transports were held together by "rubber bands and sticking plasters". He claimed that the MoD missed a chance to buy brand new planes "virtually for nothing" when the price of aircraft fell after September 11.
Ageing planes force MoD to pay for civilian troop transporters
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:11am GMT 03/01/2007.
An ageing fleet of RAF transport aircraft has forced the Ministry of Defence to spend £11 million on chartering civilian jets, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
With its 40-year-old Tristar and VC10 passenger aircraft in need of constant repair and a second front opening in Afghanistan, the RAF has turned to non-military airlines to help ferry troops to operational theatres.
Frustration at Britain's vintage military transport fleet has sometimes led to near mutiny among soldiers who have been stranded for days while trying to get home on leave or at the end of a six-month tour.
Figures for the millions being spent on civilian airlines were obtained after a parliamentary question by the Conservatives on the cost of chartered aircraft. The response shows that since last April the MoD has spent £11,303,000 on chartering aircraft from the Icelandic-owned airline Astraeus, the US airline Omni Air and the British VIP charter airline Titan Airways.
"There could not be a clearer example of how botched planning and investment in our Armed Forces is leading to higher costs and a lack of proper kit for our troops," said Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary. "The Prime Minister still seems to believe he can increase commitments without Gordon Brown having to pay for them."
In the answer to the parliamentary question put down by Gerald Howarth, the Tory defence spokesman, on the cost of the charters, Adam Ingram, the minister for the Armed Forces, said the MoD used private brokers to arrange the hire of Boeing 757s and DC10s.
The MoD had been forced to use civilian airlines because there had been a 42 per cent rise in the number of troops transported over the last year with the new deployment to Afghanistan. In the last nine months 37,000 troops have been flown out of Britain.
"We are conducting two air bridges at the same time to Iraq and Afghanistan," an MoD spokesman said. "It often makes no sense to use flying hours of specialised military aircraft when the same task can be performed as well or better – with shorter flying times and more comfortable seats – using commercial alternatives." The MoD added that it was likely to continue with the airlines while it fought conflicts on two fronts and when it "provided better value for money than military alternatives".
A shortfall in transport planes is likely to continue for at least another eight years while the RAF waits for wrangling to be resolved over a contract for new aircraft.
Under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft programme the first of 14 Airbus A330s were supposed to be available for service at the beginning of this year. But the final "main gate" contract has still yet to be signed, with the new in-service date being pushed back to 2013. In the meantime the RAF will have to rely on its nine Tristars and 14 VC10s that were bought second-hand in the 1980s and are no longer operated by any other airline or air force.
An RAF source said the old air transports were held together by "rubber bands and sticking plasters". He claimed that the MoD missed a chance to buy brand new planes "virtually for nothing" when the price of aircraft fell after September 11.
