Libdem Infighting Goes Public

Sir Ming, that stalwart North East Fife Libdem MP, has launched an unprecedented attack on his party colleague Danny Alexander over the closure of Leuchars RAF base.

He has even suggested Mr Alexander interfered in the basing review to save his parliamentary seat. Surely Danny Alexander wouldn't use his position as chief secretary to the Treasury to influence vital decisions relating to the defence of the UK?

Sir Ming thinks otherwise and has accused the whipper-snapper of lobbying for the retention of Lossiemouth, which borders his Inverness, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, to 'assist his political credibility'. Tensions are so bad within the Libdems that party bosses were forced to bring them together for a clear-the-air-meeting, but that appears to be unsuccessful and now Sir Ming has chosen to vent his anger publicly.

"It's a remarkable coincidence that these decisions should have been thought to assist the political credibility of the chief secretary to the Treasury. Or is it?

"The result of the closure of Leuchars is that the RAF has been banished to the north of Scotland. The army's preferences have been met at the expense of proper strategic analysis."

Of course Sir Ming's outburst is to assist his own credibility as he wants to be seen as fighting to the bitter end to keep the RAF in his constituency, but such infighting by senior government members forces me to consider whether anyone in the Westminster government has a clue about military strategy and to suggest that today's policies are being made on a wing and a prayer.

Alex Salmond welcomed the change of use at Leuchars from RAF to Army as 'a substantial consolation prize' for Fife and I can only agree it will benefit the area as much as the RAF's presence.

One important aspect of the changeover which hasn't been mentioned by Liam Fox, Sir Ming or Danny Alexander is the airstrip.  A couple of months ago Ryanair visited the base to check out the new £27m runway but nothing more has been said about its future - until now.

Alex Salmond is to ask the MoD to examine the possibility of the air strip being used for commercial airline flights and he hopes to convince the MoD to make it an 'embarkation point' for troops across Scotland.  If Scotland is to have a major increase is Army personnel, Leuchars would be the most sensible aviation base for them; thus avoiding the costs of using commercial airports such as Edinburgh and Prestwick.

The Scottish government also wants to investigate the base being used for commercial flights and this must be encouraged.  Leuchars is currently used for private flights - mainly for those visiting St Andrews - but it would be an act of folly to allow the newly refurbished air strip to lie unused.

Such a shame Sir Ming and the manny Danny couldn't put their energies into ensuring the MoD and Westminster government give this issue a high priority, rather than conduct an argument in public which is of little, or any, interest to the public.

source

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Chinook Accident.

We Shall Never Know.

I well remember how easily airborne accidents in both military and civilian scenarios are more easily able to lay blame on an operating crew than any underlying causes. This terrible tragedy appears to be such a case. However, if we look hard at the evidence, I, as a long time aviator am unable to square the latest findings that completely exonerate the pilots. A good source of material is  here together with substantial references.

Question marks over the serviceability of the machine, crew fatigue and navigational issues, all combine to form a picture of  a sequence of events coming together rather than any single major factor. However I argue that in the prevailing weather conditions the speed and altitude of the aircraft were significant. Why a safe altitude was not sought baffles me. A pure aviation mantra is that if in doubt climb and was always a good one.

I guess we really shall never know but I have little faith in Dr Liam Fox's expertise to comment as he has. I suspect a greater desire to look noble and gracious in the public eye is more likely than hours in a simulator to grasp the nature of the conditions prevailing on that rainy, foggy day in Scotland. It is also another opportune moment to have a go at the top brass. In some cases they deserve it, not in this.

Oldrightie

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The Ten Guilty Men

Senior RAF officers were urged to resign last night after a damning independent review of the Nimrod disaster over Afghanistan three years ago found it was 'entirely preventable'.

The report named 10 top brass and defence industry chiefs -some of whom have already retired - as personally to blame for events leading up to the fire and explosion that destroyed flight XV230 and killed all on board.

Review chairman Charles Haddon-Cave QC criticised the people involved at every level in keeping the ageing surveillance planes in the air and accused the Ministry of Defence of sacrificing safety for cost cuts. He said a review of the Nimrod fleet had been a 'lamentable job' that was 'riddled with errors' and failed to identify key dangers.

Fourteen servicemen (pictured above) died when XV230 crashed near Kandahar in September 2006 because, he said, of a "systemic breach" of the military covenant that require those expected to risk their lives for their country to be treated fairly.

He said financial cuts within the MoD in the wake of the 1998 strategic defence review - ultimately the responsibility of Gordon Brown who was chancellor at the time - had resulted in a cascade of organisational changes that led to 'a dilution of the airworthiness regime and culture within the MoD'.

He also turned on BAE Systems, saying Britain's leading defence manufacturer bore "substantial responsibility" for a safety case that was "poorly planned, poorly managed and poorly executed".

Mr Haddon-Cave also said defence firm QinetiQ bore a "share of responsibility" because it had been "fundamentally lax and compliant" in carrying out its role as independent adviser to the MoD.

Yet we continued to have Defence Secretaries insist the Nimrod was safe to fly after the crash, despite the coroner's call for the entire fleet to be grounded. Some RAF flying personnel decided to leave the service because it was well known the aircraft was not safe and they were also disgusted their bosses supported the government's lies.

QinetiQ was brought in to be a smokescreen for the MoD's cost cutting measures which Gordon Brown requested. They were the MoD's 'yes men' and were happy to be so as long as the cheques continued to flood in.

As yet I haven't read the review as it is several hundred pages long, but I certainly think the ten men, five from the MoD, three from BAE systems and two from QinetiQ, should be tried for manslaughter, but of course that will not happen.

Two of the named officers are still serving - Group Captain George Baber, now promoted to air commodore and Wing Commander Michael Eagles - although they have been moved to different posts. General Sir Sam Cowan and Air Chief Marshal Sir Malcolm Pledger have since retired.

Source: Times

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Defence of our Skies Reduced to Only 8 Planes

Photo courtesy of Lone Voice

Yes military matters again and I make no apology because if we don't have a strong military we're exposed to every madman with a grudge. The Telegraph states 'The shut-down of two RAF Tornado squadrons is to go ahead a year early in order to save money, leaving Britain with just eight aircraft kept ready to protect its skies.'

The 43 and 111 squadrons, which were due to stand down in late 2010, could be merged or axed from September although the MOD says it has not worked out the full details.  The move will reportedly cut the number of fighter jets on standby to protect Britain from 25 to 12.  However, it is said that at all times four of these will be undergoing maintenance, leaving only 8 on standby at any one time.

Senior defence sources were reported to have confirmed that the squadrons were being axed early.  A spokeman for the MOD told the newspaper, "There will be no change to the air defence of the UK.  The Tornado F3 will continue to fly from RAF Leuchars and maintain the Northern Quick Reaction Alert commitment until its planned out of service date in 2001."

Well that's all right then, we're protected until 2011 for Quick Reaction Alert for another 18 months at least here in Scotland.

It's quite unbelievable what this government is doing to HM Forces and doing it without any protest from the opposition parties.  They should be shouting from the rooftops that we need our country well protected.  Once upon a time we had the best military in the world. Now we have a military which is the laughing stock of the western world, not because of the quality of our troops who are still second to none, but the way their hands are tied with poor or no equipment to do their jobs.  Small countries like Switzerland provide the best that can be bought but we now know we're third rate where our military is concerned.  In fact we're third rate in many aspects but that's another story.

Sleep well in your beds from September and take comfort that we have 8 planes to protect us from unfriendly countries.  There are plenty of them around since we became involved in other people's wars for the sake of one person's ego.

H/T to Lone Voice and RantingPenguin

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