Nimrod report identified 'critical' fuel problem

The scandal of the deaths of 14 servicemen on board Nimrod XV230 continues. I am bound to say that I believed long ago that there couldn't be any more bad information coming out. But the release under the Freedom of Information Act of a report by QinetiQ, the defence company, on the extent of the leaks on board the Nimrod fleet and in particular the six aircraft flying over Afghanistan and Iraq simply beggars belief. The leaks represented a "critical" structural problem. Civilian contractors at RAF Kinloss were not only not required to pass on the substantial information they had on the leaks and how to deal with them to the Integrated Project Team which oversees how the Nimrod fleets is run, they were not required to tell the RAF technicians working on the aircraft at Kinloss that the Air Publications they were working to were out-of-date and of "little, if any, value". The problems with the leaks dated back ten years but were exacerbated by the "intense" schedule flown by the six Nimrods equipped with special video surveillance equipment fed back directly to commanders on the ground. Since these leaks were largely being caused by pressure from the aircraft's air-to-air refuelling system, never part of its original equipment and fitted as an emergency measure during the Falklands Conflict, they could not be replicated on the ground. "QinetiQ were unable to establish a clear impression of how these non-detected leaks are addressed," the report said. Or put another way, they couldn't be found so they couldn't be fixed. But so essential was the real-time video surveillance equipment to troops on the ground that the RAF had to keep the aircraft in the air quite literally, and tragically, at all costs.

Read more about the QinetiQ assessment here

Comments

[The 3rd Column]

More of the same - there is a real problem here.

Take helicopters. They have a life of say 30 years in normal conditions in UK and Europe. Put them in Afghanistan where the climate is extreme, the dust and dirt is horrendous; then add the fact that flying hours are many times that planned for "normal" peacetime operations and we can see replacement time being reduced by at least a third more likely it will be at something like 15 years. The effect today is not seen, except in the increased cost in maintenance which can be hidden under operational costs. What will happen in 10-15 years when we need to replace the exhausted aircraft? This will be bringing forward a bill for hundreds of millions of pounds by some 15 years. This will blow a hole in future procurement.

The same can be said for all equipment used in theatres like Afghanistan and Iraq. What about the vehicles, UAVs, tents etc. This bill needs to be added to the manpower cost. I am not sure what the defence planners in the MoD are doing, but I am sure they are thinking of this. Something will have to give - either the UK military will fail due to lack of money in equipment and manpower, or there has to be a significant increase in budget.