Posted on 06/14/2005 6:33:26 PM PDT by blam
Armed Forces stretched beyond limit
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 15/06/2005)
A damning report on the Armed Forces' ability to go on operations has concluded that more than a third of the military are experiencing serious weaknesses.
The National Audit Office says today that there is a potential crisis facing the military with so many troops deployed in operations overseas and a possible brigade-size operation in Afghanistan next year.
The Government's commitments abroad have used up a vast amount of equipment and led to serious curtailment of training, the Whitehall spending watchdog says.
Under the Ministry of Defence traffic light system, overall readiness of the forces for operations is now "amber", meaning that there are serious shortcomings, one step below "red" or "critical".
Among the chief criticisms in the report published today is the practise of "cannibalisation", whereby equipment is plundered for spare parts. It has become so prevalent that the instances of ships being raided for spare parts have risen from five a month to 30.
Almost a quarter of Challenger 2 tanks and a third of the Royal Artillery's AS90 guns had to be cannibalised to make the rest of the force operational for Iraq.
The MoD was also "unable to sustain the majority of its helicopter fleets" beyond current peacetime activity "without heavy cannibalisation of equipment".
The auditors criticise cannibalisation as "inefficient and manpower intensive" and said that it reduced equipment that might be needed in future conflicts.
It praises the MoD for having a good system for reporting levels of operational readiness but it warns that there is a danger that the "cumulative effect of a series of minor risks" could have "serious impacts on the readiness of the Armed Forces" for future conflict.
Since coming to power in 1997, the Government has fought several substantial conflicts, creating a "high operational tempo". At a maximum the Armed Forces are supposed to be able to fight simultaneously two medium-scale conflicts and one small-scale engagement. In 2003 this more than doubled with the Iraq war, Afghanistan and commitments to the fire strike, Kosovo and Sierra Leone. The latest figures show the military to still be operating above its most demanding level of activity.
This risked reduced levels of training "leading to a skill fade" and "impacted negatively" on recruitment and retention rates, the report says.
Michael Ancram, the shadow defence secretary, said the lack of funds, training and equipment meant the Government was sending the forces to war "with one arm tied behind their back". "The risks that the MoD have been taking are utterly unacceptable and entirely driven by the Treasury's ambition to save funds," he said.
The Royal Navy has had its budget cut by £310 million in order to pay for spiralling Army costs. Some ships had been downgraded to "reduced support status", the report says, and would receive help only for defects affecting health and safety.
In the RAF, the ability of fighters to retain their "high end warfighting skills" was under threat by the reduction of fast jet flying times and there were shortages of spares for helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft.
The military in the UK is in worse shape than I suspected.
"a possible brigade-size operation in Afghanistan next year"
That's just east of Iran.
I wonder if the dates are already pencilled in for dealing with Iran.
Maybe the UK to free up US forces in Afghanistan for "other missions"?
God Bless them.
Wait until Au Canada has to someday to provide a force of more that 100 Combat Personnel with Combat Support in a tactical situation!
Mon Dieu!
Interesting take on the situation.
Yeah, they may be somewhat stretched. But don't believe everything you read in the press -- I'm not sure the situation is as dire as newspapers want us to believe.
thanks
If that were to happen they'd be way too powerful for the size of their population -- the rest of the world could only stand back in awe.
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