Britain’s Special Forces on highly sensitive airborne missions face being on the ground for TWO YEARS
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Britain’s Special Forces on highly sensitive airborne missions face being grounded for TWO YEARS amid controversial plans to replace the historic Hercules aircraft.
- Parliamentarians and veterans fear elite troops will not be able to mount covert missions.
- High jumps and low level drops from fast attack ships could be threatened
British special forces in highly sensitive airborne operations could be grounded for two years if controversial plans to replace its famous Hercules aircraft go ahead, it was claimed last night.
Parliamentarians and veterans raised the alarm that elite forces might not be able to perform some key missions until the replacement Airbus A400M Atlas is fully tailored to their requirements in 2025.
They fear that will include high-altitude skydiving, as well as low-altitude drops from fast-attack boats.
Now, defense ministers and chiefs are being urged to suspend the execution of the C-130 Hercules until its successor is capable of meeting the needs of the SAS and SBS.
Tobias Ellwood, Conservative chairman of the Commons Defense Committee, said: “It would be a huge security mistake if the decision to abandon the Hercules was not reversed.”
British special forces in highly sensitive airborne operations could be grounded for two years if controversial plans to replace its famous Hercules aircraft (pictured: C-130 Hercules) go ahead, it was claimed last night.
Parliamentarians and veterans raised the alarm that elite forces might not be able to perform some key missions until the new Airbus A400M Atlas (pictured) is fully tailored to their requirements in 2025
‘The SF Niche [Special Forces] The capabilities built around this proven workhorse cannot be easily replicated with the larger A400M.”
Former SAS member Mal Stewart told The Mail on Sunday that the A400M was “big, noisy and just not suitable for low-level covert operations” and said going ahead with it was “a crazy move”.
Former Guards officer and Conservative MP Richard Drax warned RAF chiefs last week that the change was “affecting our military effectiveness” and urged them, for the sake of SF members who “risk their lives for us “, to stay with Hercules for another two years. .
Defense Ministry sources yesterday dismissed fears of any short-term threat to the effectiveness of the SAS.
However, RAF bosses told MPs last week that “a small number of niche capabilities” will not be available with the A400M when it finally takes control in June.
At the Defense Committee hearing, Ellwood claimed it was “to save money”.
Air Marshal Sir Richard Knighton seemed to agree, but cautioned that the Hercules “required a very significant fatigue modification and upgrade”.
He stressed that the RAF was “very clear about what those niche capabilities were and what the potential operational impact is”, and that the ministers had concluded “that the level of operational risk was small enough to be tolerable”.
Last night, a Ministry of Defense spokesman said: “The Atlas A400M is a versatile aircraft, offering the opportunity to approach the tasks performed by the C-130, including military parachuting, in a different way, so it will not be limited to replicate how the C-130 currently delivers the mission suite.
“The RAF is working apace to ensure that the military effect offered by the C-130 is either replicated through the A400M or delivered in a different way with this more modern and capable aircraft.”
Labor warned that scrapping the Hercules without a “suitable replacement” would hamper Special Forces operations.
Shadow Defense Secretary John Healey said: “There are increasing questions about whether our forces are well-equipped enough to carry out their vital work.”