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Subject: Cash crisis so severe.....
EssexBoy    8/14/2006 3:45:28 PM
...that base faces closure because Army can't afford to build a fence (From yesterday's Torygraph) The language is cold and bureaucratic, but the message is crystal clear - the Army is running out of cash and Britain's troops in Afghanistan and Iraq are paying the price. In a confidential document, defence chiefs talk of "high impact" cost-cutting measures that will cause "some pain" and result "in severe impediment to the delivery of operational capability". It is a far cry from the pledge made by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, just four months ago, when he boasted that he was going to make an extra £1 billion available. The money, which came from a "special reserve", was meant to help the military to conduct peacekeeping operations around the world. Now it seems that defence chiefs are being forced to pay for the Chancellor's unusual generosity by slashing military spending, closing bases and withdrawing equipment from service. All of this is, according to some senior officers, "putting the lives of British servicemen at risk". The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that the Land Command, the organisation responsible for ensuring that British troops are properly equipped and trained to fight anywhere in the world, has been ordered to cut more than £40 million from its budget in the next eight months. Cuts to other departments in the Army, in addition to the Royal Navy and the RAF, are now expected, as the annual £1.3 billion costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan begin to bite into the defence budget. The report, which is in the form of a "loose minute" with three annexes and is entitled "Financial Management 2006/07", reveals that: • Repair budgets for Army tanks and artillery pieces will be slashed. • Bases will be closed, "severely impeding" combat operations. • Military exercises in Kenya and Canada will be cancelled or scaled down, leading to problems with training and morale. • Funding for the Army's only multiple-launched rocket systems will cease, creating a 30-month capability gap. • Missile systems will be withdrawn from service early, creating a 24-month capability gap. • The stockpiling of ammunition for deployable brigades such as 16 Air Assault Brigade, currently in Afghanistan, and Apache helicopters, will be reduced. • Recruitment to the Territorial Army will be "slowed". • The money available to train University Officer Training Cadets will be capped. The financial report was drawn up for Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, the commander-in-chief of Land Command. The general is responsible for more than 70,000 servicemen and women, all of the Army's tanks, artillery and Apache attack helicopters, and has a budget of more than £3 billion - the largest in the Army. Gen Dannatt, who is due to succeed Gen Sir Mike Jackson as chief of the general staff in the next few weeks, ordered the cuts to prevent further budget restrictions in the future. In the most damaging disclosure, the report states that the Army Base Repair Organisation, which is responsible for repairing the Army's tanks, missiles systems and artillery pieces, will also have its budget slashed. The report describes this as a "high impact" measure. The document also states that the predicted rise in the cost of utilities, such as fuel, water and electricity, will mean that several military facilities will have to close, resulting in a "severe impediment to the delivery of operational capability". The funding crisis is now so severe that senior commanders across the Army have been ordered to organise meetings so that they can travel using "saver tickets". The document reveals that the building of a security fence at the Army's Dishforth air base, which is the home of 9 Regiment Army Air Corps, where Apache attack helicopters are based, has been cancelled because of the cash crisis. The document goes on to say that the future of the base, in North Yorkshire, is now under review. Funding will also cease for the Army's sophisticated Multiple Launched Rocket System, which can hit a target with an accuracy of 10 feet from a distance of 43 miles. The document states that this will mean that, in an emergency, the Army could not deploy the weapon to either Iraq or Afghanistan. In a recent article in a Ministry of Defence house magazine, Defence Logistics Organisation News, Gen Dannatt appeared to criticise Treasury policy when he compared the demand placed on the Army with the level of Government funding. He said that both Afghanistan and Iraq were proving to be "demanding" theatres and admitted that all the assumptions made about withdrawing troops from Iraq "had not been substantiated". He went on: "[The Army] has huge demands placed upon us. We are finding ourselves quite finely balanced and taut, added to which is the problem that defence is not financially over-resourced at the moment." Defence spending has long been a running sore with many senior officers
 
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flamingknives    RE:Cash crisis so severe.....    8/14/2006 4:11:13 PM
• Funding for the Army's only multiple-launched rocket systems will cease, creating a 30-month capability gap. Funding will also cease for the Army's sophisticated Multiple Launched Rocket System, which can hit a target with an accuracy of 10 feet from a distance of 43 miles. Mr. flamingpicky reckons that the rockets are sophisticated, not the launcher. Nonetheless, this one is concerning, as the US Army is highly impressed by their GMLRS. If someone had been doing some joined-up thinking, LIMAWS(R) would be the on hand to replace this, but I wouldn't be surprised if the people in charge had forgotton that it existed. LIMAWS would be more suitable than the M270 anyway, as you'd stand a fighting chance of getting it in theatre and into action
 
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lightningtest    RE:Cash crisis so severe.....    8/15/2006 8:14:23 AM
Even if the GMLRS (or similar 200lb warhead ground launch ~60km precision strike capability) is made available in theater the number available would be limited by cost and the resupply oportunity slim. IMHO its better to rely on a FAC and a/c to get job done using a resource which has a much better chance of doing useful target aquisition before and BDA after the strike. I know the trade off is response time but then having more a/c on ready alert can rectify that somewhat. More Harriers to Hellmand..... Does the UK Apache have a casevac capability yet.... Does the infantry in Hellmand used recoil-less rifles. I read that they were useful in Korea taking out bunkers/point targets pinning down our forces. These must be cheaper than a GMLRS or smart bombs and at a pinch can give stand off precision strike when the av-gas/spare parts/money(/political spine) runs out.
 
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Lawman    RE:Cash crisis so severe.....    8/15/2006 8:41:00 AM
Actually, transporting an MLRS system, and a few pods of GMLRS takes only one C-17 load, yet delivers round-the-clock fire support, without needing much fuel. On the other hand, more fighters require lots of maintenance crews, fuel supplies, spares and weapons, and tanker support to get the aircraft there! One MLRS can provide support troops anywhere within 40 miles within seconds, and you can put them at forward operating bases. Try providing fire support 24/7 to multiple units with Harriers, and you will need at least a dozen, and a huge logistics trail.
 
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perfectgeneral    RE:Cash crisis so severe.....    8/15/2006 9:10:03 AM
I trust you guys have all sent an email to your MP(s)?
 
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Yimmy    RE:Cash crisis so severe.....    8/15/2006 10:13:59 AM
Meh... so long as my bounty goes up this year as it is supposed to I'm not sure I care.
 
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flamingknives    RE:Cash crisis so severe.....    8/15/2006 12:49:55 PM
The UK doesn't have any recoilless rifles in service, and hasn't for a while. Maybe they should ressurrect the WOMBAT - there's a subtle weapon. There's supposedly a procurement on the way for an anti-structure munition (ASM) which, while grammatically questionable, should be able to provide an easier way of scragging point-targets than the old LAW80 and cheaper than the NLAW. The GMLRS shouldn't be that expensive. It doesn't need the costly gun-hardening of Excalibur, and uses, AFAICT, much of the original MLRS technology for the conventional part of the projectile, which is as cheap as chips. Certainly cheaper than having a Paveway III on station whereever it's needed all the time. While an M270 might fit on an C17, You can fit two LIMAWS(R) onto a C130 (without ammo) and one under a Chinook, which would help in Afghanistan. The chassis has better strategic mobility in its own right anyway (wheels vs tracks) It might only carry half as many rockets, but when are you ever going to want 12 GMLRS on target?
 
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ArtyEngineer    RE:Cash crisis so severe..... - FK   8/15/2006 3:12:58 PM
"While an M270 might fit on an C17, You can fit two LIMAWS(R) onto a C130 (without ammo) and one under a Chinook, which would help in Afghanistan. The chassis has better strategic mobility in its own right anyway (wheels vs tracks) It might only carry half as many rockets, but when are you ever going to want 12 GMLRS on target?" - FK You are talking about the LIMAWS (R) in the present tense, is it definitely goin to be the Supacat chassis based system of which a few pics were posted over on teh Arty boad a while back? How far along is the development and testing of teh LIMAWS (R). Is there a an EMD or Procurment Contract close to being awarded? You seem to be in the know about these things ;)
 
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flamingknives    RE:Cash crisis so severe..... - FK   8/15/2006 4:17:24 PM
How far along is the development and testing of teh LIMAWS (R). Is there a an EMD or Procurment Contract close to being awarded? You seem to be in the know about these things ;) Of course, I couldn't possibly comment outside the marketing literature. I'm not aware of any other design or anyone else working on something to fulfil that capability.
 
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ArtyEngineer    RE:Cash crisis so severe..... - FK   8/15/2006 4:24:02 PM
Thinking about LIMAWS (R), I dont even know who the prime contractor/systems integrator is. I know it isnt BAE.
 
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flamingknives    RE:Cash crisis so severe..... - FK   8/15/2006 5:37:18 PM
Oh, that I can tell you. Strangely, it's the first hit on Google It's Lockheed Martin UK (LMUK) INSYS Ltd - Formerly INSYS Ltd and previously to that the defence arm of Hunting Engineering (who brought you BL755, JP233 and LAW80, amongst other things). There's still a page on LIMAWS(R) at the old company website, but it's sadly out-of-date. LIMAWS(R) There's currently at least one working model than can shoot rockets and trundle around a bit. Another Piccy It's worth noting that LMUK also own HMT, who make the Supacat Chassis, and that the launcher is a Lockheed Martin product too.
 
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