Defence ministers spurned three separate deals to buy American Black Hawk helicopters which would have helped to plug the dangerous shortage facing British troops in Afghanistan. The most recent rejection came only days ago, the Observer can reveal. A letter sent last week by the defence equipment minister, Quentin Davies, to Sikorsky, the US manufacturer of the Black Hawk, appears to admit that snubbing its latest offer could delay the introduction of desperately needed helicopters into Afghanistan. Davies admits that rather than opt for the "earlier acquisition of another helicopter", the government chose to pursue the heavily criticised refit of Britain's ageing Puma fleet. The minister's letter is dated 7 July, the day trooper Christopher Whiteside, 20, died on foot patrol in Helmand after being hit by a hidden explosive device. Military figures say that lives are being lost in Afghanistan because troops have to travel by land, making them vulnerable to roadside bombs. Defence industry sources have also revealed that under the initial offer from Connecticut-based Sikorsky in 2007, 60 Black Hawks would already have been available for British forces in Helmand province, where they have sustained heavy casualties from roadside bombs in their renewed offensive against the Taliban. The damaging revelations come days after the head of the army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, was forced to use an American-forces Black Hawk on a visit to Afghanistan due to the shortage of British helicopters. James Arbuthnot, chairman of the defence committee, whose report last week condemned the Puma refit and expressed concern over its "poor survivability" in combat, said: "The Black Hawks are extremely good, they could be acquired in large numbers and the cost of running them would be low." The former chief of the defence staff, Lord Guthrie, branded the MoD's procurement strategy as "incompetent". Citing his experience as head of the armed forces, he confirmed there had been political pressure to favour British companies even if the equipment was inferior. "In the past, ministers wanted to buy British at all cost, sometimes at the expense of not having the kit we desperately needed," he said. The Tory MP Douglas Carswell, a long-time critic of defence procurement policies, denounced what he termed a virtual "monopoly" reliance on a small group of UK defence firms, pointing out that he had warned in a Commons debate nearly a year ago that this was being "paid for in English blood in Helmand". "This would be bad enough if it only meant higher bills for the taxpayer," he said last night. "But we have sent brave troops to fight, and have failed to give them the most important military tool in modern counter-insurgency: a sufficient helicopter force." The first of Sikorsky's three offers to the MoD, defence industry sources reveal, came in 2007. Sixty Black Hawk UH60 "L model" aircraft were offered. Under the deal, which included the training of British aircrews, nearly half would have been delivered "straight off the assembly line" during 2008, with the remainder by the end of this year. The total cost, at the then-favourable pound-dollar exchange rate, would have been roughly £480m. A second Sikorsky offer was lodged last year following an approach by the government. This would have involved delivery of 12 Black Hawk S70Is with six to have been delivered in 2011 and the remainder in 2012. Last month, after Davies revealed the government was engaged in an "11th-hour" reassessment of whether to go ahead with refitting the Puma, MoD officials asked Sikorsky for a further bid. It proposed supplying 60 of the latest M-model Black Hawks, the first five of them next year, a further 13 in 2011 and the remainder in "staggered deliveries" by the end of 2013. The firm received the rejection letter from Davies last week. The MoD said last night that rejecting the Puma refit for a new aircraft would have worsened the helicopter shortage in Helmand. A spokesman said cancelling Puma would lead "to a capability gap placing unacceptable risk on operational commitments". In response to Sikorsky's 2007 offer, he said that the MoD was already signed up to buying 62 new "Future Lynx" helicopters, from the UK-Italian company AgustaWestland. They are not due to enter service until 2014 and will cost around £1bn. Sikorsky's spokesman Paul Jackson refused to discuss "any specific offers to the British government or any correspondence between us", saying only that the company remained "ready, willing and able to work with the British government at any given time".MoD rejected three deals to buy Black Hawk helicopters
Sunday, 19 July 2009
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