6.3 |
Military equipment (pre-conflict)
411.
The UOR update
for Lord Bach on 7 March highlighted:
•
176
business cases for equipment capability UORs had been approved at a
cost
of “some
£488m”.
•
The list of
UORs for the post-conflict phase, Phase IV, continued to be
“urgently
developed
in parallel with the ongoing work” to develop more detailed
planning
guidance
and CONOPS. It was likely to focus on potential shortfalls
relating
to force
protection, infrastructure requirements and Intelligence,
Surveillance,
Target
Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR).
•
Agreement
was being sought from the Treasury to increase the total
UOR
funding for
Phase III by a further £60m. The funding for Phase IV had
been
discussed
at official level.200
412.
The update
stated that the Integrated Project Team (IPT)201
was
“actively
assessing”
another source to assist in the production of desert pattern NBC
suits.
There was
a requirement for 94,000 suits, but the contracted supplier could
only produce
1,000 a
week from the beginning of April (when the cloth to make the suits
became
available),
and 4,000 plus a week by mid-June.
413.
The DLO had
issued sufficient ComboPens for the number of personnel
deployed
but “the
precise location in theatre of approximately 4,000 [wa]s
unconfirmed”. Stocks
had been
withdrawn from UK-based warships to mitigate the risk. There would
be
sufficient
water bottle tops to satisfy all demands by 10 March “and
leave a reserve”.
414.
Two UOR sets
of sand filters for Lynx helicopters would be delivered by
21 March
with a
further three refurbished sets. Further spares would be available
from 31 March
and the
supplier was producing an additional four sets “at risk” which
would be available
from
mid-April at a rate of one every two weeks. The MOD was not yet
committed to a
contract
for these sets but the requirement was likely to be a “high
priority” for Phase IV.
415.
At a Chiefs of
Staff meeting on 10 March, Lt Gen Reith reported
that:
“A full
check of in-theatre NBC equipment and redistribution had been
completed,
but
respirator fitting had been slower than anticipated and was now
expected to
416.
The record of
Lord Bach’s meeting on 10 March stated:
“CBRN was
in a better position than thought last week … by 17 March all
personnel
would have
their optimum fit of respirator. The testing was the most advanced
in the
world
– all
personnel
had successfully been through the CS gas chamber in
their
respirator
– we were now providing better still protection. The Commander in
theatre
200
Minute
CM(SD) to PS/Minister(DP), 7 March 2003, ‘Iraq: Op TELIC
UORs’.
201
Teams
focused on delivering individual equipment programmes and projects.
Their role is explained
further in
Section 14.1.
202
Minutes,
10 March 2003, Chiefs of Staff meeting.
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