The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
patrol
vehicle … The review [announced on 26 June] established that there
was no
small but
better protected vehicle available now and the only immediate
options for
better
protection were vehicles such as Cougar.”
616.
The advice
stated that the MOD “might be open to criticism” that it had only
taken
action
“when forced to by the media”. Draft briefing for Press Office
included:
“Q.
Why have you done this now, not a year ago?
“A. As
recent events have shown, the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan
changes
rapidly and
the threat is constantly evolving. In response, work was
ongoing
within the
department to examine options for the procurement of a
medium
protected
patrol vehicle. The review announced by the Secretary of State
for
Defence on
26 June enabled the acceleration of this work including by
securing
additional
funding.”
617.
The advice
also considered the potential question of why Cougar had not
been
procured
sooner, given that the US had been using it for “some time”. The
suggested
response
was that that was because the situation in the UK’s Area of
Responsibility was
different
to that of the US.
618.
The advice
acknowledged that the UK had “some very early versions” of
the
Cougar,
such as the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) variant, which
was
used for
Explosive Ordnance Disposal tasks and deployed to Iraq in “2003‑4”.
It had
been bought
in 2002 from Supacat Technical Solutions Group, a subsidiary of
Force
Protection
Inc. The advice said the MRAP vehicles were “very different” to the
Cougar
vehicles
being procured because the MRAP vehicle was not a patrol vehicle
and would
not meet
the UK’s requirements. It did not elaborate on any of those
points.
619.
Mr Browne’s
Written Ministerial Statement on 24 July said:
“It [the
Armoured Vehicles Review] has confirmed that there is a
growing
requirement
for a protected vehicle with capabilities between our heavy
armour,
such as
Warrior, and lighter patrol vehicles, such as Snatch. The review
has also
identified
feasible options to address the gap in the short term. We have
now
completed a
very rapid assessment of those options and have identified
three
complementary
ways forward …”321
620.
Mr Browne
announced:
•
the
purchase of an additional 100 Vector vehicles for
Afghanistan;
•
the
up‑armouring of a further 70 FV430s for Iraq by spring 2007, in
addition
to the
54 already ordered; and
•
the
purchase of 100 Cougar vehicles for Iraq and
Afghanistan.
321
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 24 July
2006, column 74WS.
104