The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
488.
On 3 February,
Lt Gen Fulton advised Mr Jeffrey how the MOD
intended “to deliver
a coherent
armoured vehicle capability which meets current and future needs,
against
the
background of the wish to make an early announcement to reassure
the public,
industry
and the Army that the MOD is on top of the issue”.258
489.
Lt Gen Fulton
recommended that Mr Jeffrey should note that:
“a. Urgent
work is under way to identify and cost options to meet Defence’s
short
term need
for armoured vehicles which meet the increased demand of
current
operations
and to consider whether timescales and capability can be
advanced
by making
an early commitment.
b. The
armoured vehicle work builds on the Defence Industrial strategy …
and the
more
general armoured fighting vehicle work with industry.
c.
Concurrent work is considering how the Future Rapid Effect System
(FRES)
project can
be accelerated to meet Defence’s longer term need for
armoured
capability.”
490.
Lt Gen Fulton
advised that work “during the FRES Assessment Phase”
had
“indicated”
that it was “very unlikely” that an initial operating capability
could be achieved
before
2015; and that was “principally driven by the need to ensure” that
it was “capable
of future
weight growth (in order to achieve protection requirements over a
long life) and
technology
insertion”.
491.
Addressing the
implications of that delay, including the need to retain
existing
armoured
vehicles with recognised deficiencies, Lt Gen Fulton
wrote: “Work has been
under way
since July 2005 to identify the full implications for the armoured
vehicle fleet
of these
deficiencies, and to consider how to address them.” The FV430 and
CVR(T)
fleets were
facing obsolescence but that could be managed to a degree. They
would
need
up‑armouring to meet the threat level faced in Iraq. Saxon was
described as
“insufficiently
effective”. The funding provided for FRES in the Equipment
Programme
would be
examined “to identify opportunities to fund enhancements to the
existing
AV fleet”.
492.
Mr Jeffrey
forwarded Lt Gen Fulton’s advice to Lord Drayson,
agreeing that the
issue
should be looked at urgently for a number of reasons, including
that “the increased
demands of
current operations” had “exposed weaknesses in what was already a
fleet
493.
Mr Jeffrey
stated that the DMB would discuss the deficiencies of the
existing
armoured
vehicle fleet on 9 March and it “may be that there will be
opportunities to
deploy
funds previously earmarked for FRES”. FRES would be discussed by
the IAB
on 9
February.
258
Minute
DCDS(EC) to PUS [MOD], 3 February 2006, ‘Armoured Vehicle
Capability’.
259
Minute PUS
[MOD] to Minister (DP), 3 February 2006, ‘Armoured Vehicle
Capability’.
82