14.1 |
Military equipment (post-conflict)
593.
The Inquiry
asked Lt Gen Fulton why he thought the push for a medium
weight
PPV had to
come from Lord Drayson instead of from the Defence Board or
Chiefs
of Staff:
“ … I think
there’s a sort of relationship there between the commander on the
ground
at whatever
level, the commander in theatre, the Permanent Joint
Headquarters,
the chiefs,
the equipment customer and a series of examinations of what
was
needed
against what was … available in the sense of, you know, did it
exist?
“I don’t
think people were sitting on their hands saying, ‘It is all fine’.
I think people
were
saying, ‘this IED problem is a whole theatre problem
…’”307
594.
Lieutenant
General Andrew Figgures, who succeeded Lt Gen Fulton as
DCDS(EC)
in June
2006, told the Inquiry that the procurement of a medium weight PPV
was not
possible
before 2006 because there was not a vehicle that could meet the
requirement:
“… my
judgement would be that every waking hour people had they were
attempting
to solve
the problem in this area, but if there is no technical solution to
it, however
much effort
you put into it, you can’t solve it.”308
595.
The Inquiry
asked Lord Drayson why the military chain of command had
not
identified
the requirement earlier. He replied:
“I found it
hard to understand why the military chain of command had not raised
a
requirement
for a medium weight PPV when it was clear that it was not
technically
possible to
procure a light weight PPV at that time with enough armour
protection to
overmatch
the IED then being used against our troops. The thinking of the
military
throughout
this period was that a small light weight vehicle of the size and
weight of
Snatch was
needed to patrol in the way the British Army operated in Iraq. I
accepted
that buying
a much bigger and better protected medium weight vehicle would
not
be suitable
for this type of patrolling in narrow streets but I believed that
providing
commanders
in theatre with the option of a bigger vehicle would allow them
to
choose when
and where to use it.”309
596.
A variant of
the US Cougar vehicle was selected as the solution to the
medium
weight PPV
gap. It was already in service with the US Army in
Iraq.
307
Public
hearing, 27 July 2010, pages 75‑76.
308
Public
hearing, 27 July 2010, pages 77‑82.
309
Statement,
15 December 2010, page 6.
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