Hired helicopters could fill Britain's frontline gaps

Published on Thursday 31 July 2008 19:33

BRITAIN may rent helicopters from other countries or commercial companies to make up for a shortfall in Afghanistan and Iraq, it emerged yesterday.

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, will hold a meeting this afternoon with senior military personnel and civil servants to consider the options for securing more helicopter capability, though sources suggested a final decision may be some time off. Potential sources for leased helicopters include former Warsaw Pact countries, oil companies involved in offshore production, or the US security contractor Blackwater, according to reports yesterday that were not challenged by the MoD.

Nato is understood to be negotiating with Blackwater, which came under criticism from the Iraqi government and US Congress following an incident in which 17 civilians were shot dead in Baghdad.

British forces in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan can draw on eight Chinook helicopters capable of carrying up to 40 passengers, four Royal Navy Sea Kings and four Army Air Corps Lynxes.

There are also eight Apache helicopter gunships, which carry no passengers. Many of Britain's 114 deaths in Afghanistan have been caused by roadside bombs and suicide bombs directed at troops travelling by land.

But military sources rejected suggestions that the fatalities would have been avoided if helicopter transport had been more readily available, pointing out that many operations inevitably require troops to travel by road.