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20 novembre 2013 3 20 /11 /novembre /2013 17:50
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards badge on a Challenger 2 tank's tompion [Picture: Corporal Mark Webster RLC, Crown copyright]

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards badge on a Challenger 2 tank's tompion [Picture: Corporal Mark Webster RLC, Crown copyright]

 

20 November 2013 Ministry of Defence

 

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards have bid farewell to the Challenger 2 main battle tank and welcomed in the Jackal armoured vehicle.


 

With 60% of the regiment deployed on operations in Afghanistan, the Rear Operations Group in Bad Fallingbostel, northern Germany, led by Officer Commanding Major Steve Walters, formed up to pipe the last of the tanks out of the barracks that have been their home for nearly 30 years.

This is one of the first significant steps of the Army 2020 programme which sees the formation of the Adaptive and Reactive Forces.

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards are currently serving as part of 7th Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats, but under reroling and a move to Leuchars in 2015, the regiment will become part of 51 (Scottish) Brigade.

The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ben Cattermole, spoke to his soldiers in Kabul with fond sadness at the departure of the Challenger 2 main battle tank but also of the great opportunities that will come as they rerole to light cavalry.

A Challenger 2 main battle tank (left) and a Jackal armoured vehicle
The Challenger 2 main battle tank (left) is being replaced by the Jackal armoured vehicle [Picture: Corporal Mark Webster RLC, Crown copyright]

Lieutenant Colonel Cattermole said:

Today marks a historic day in our 335-year history as our 3 remaining Challenger 2 tanks leave Wessex Barracks in Bad Fallingbostel.

Since our last deployment on Challenger 2 in 2008, the regiment has continued to conduct armoured training but has frequently reroled to fulfil counter-insurgency and training operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So, today, 75 years from when our predecessors first took to tank soldiering we will hand over our tanks and focus entirely on our future as Britain’s leading light cavalry regiment.

We will integrate fully with the new Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry and shall stand together as Scotland’s Cavalry.

The last of the Challenger 2 main battle tanks is piped out of Wessex Barracks
The last of the Challenger 2 main battle tanks is piped out of Wessex Barracks in Bad Fallingbostel [Picture: Corporal Mark Webster RLC, Crown copyright]

Corporal Stevie Barrett, who has qualified as a Challenger 2 driver, operator, gunner and most recently a crew commander, said:

It’s a sad day for the regiment to be fair, as the tanks have been around for a very long time, but it’ll be good to go onto something new and a new role. The regiment is very capable of doing that and so it will be good to step up and move on.

I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead and doing something new will keep the guys interested. As part of the Rear Operations Group we will be doing instructors’ courses and commanders’ courses so that when the guys come back we can teach them.

Corporal Andy Stewart drove the first Jackal into Wessex Barracks to mark the regiment’s new start. He said:

This is a big part of the regiment’s history; it’s a big part of my history. When I came I started on tanks and I have been on operations in the Challenger 2 as well.

However, it’s quite exciting to be part of this whole new transition to working on a new platform (vehicle) and being here on the day when the regiment will move into the future.

I’ve had good times with the Jackal on operations and in my training. It is one of the few vehicles in the Army that genuinely put a smile on my face when I got to drive it. People think it looks vulnerable, but it’s really quick and really effective.

It is a really reliable piece of kit and you can tell a lot of money and preparation has been put into it to make sure the vehicle is ready for us. We’re moving on and everybody likes a challenge – that’s why you join the Army.

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11 septembre 2013 3 11 /09 /septembre /2013 07:35
More than 1,000 vehicles return from Afghanistan

Jackal and Coyote vehicles waiting to be unloaded at Marchwood (Picture Corporal Lu Scott, UK MoD)

 

9 September 2013 Ministry of Defence and Defence Equipment and Support

 

The delivery of nearly 100 vehicles to the UK from Afghanistan today brings the total number redeployed from theatre to more than 1,000.

 

94 vehicles were unloaded earlier today, Monday 9 September, at Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre near Southampton after transit from a port in the Middle East.

The protected patrol vehicles on board the ‘roll-on, roll-off’ ferry included 18 Mastiffs, each weighing more than 26 tonnes, and more than 30 Jackal vehicles.

British armoured vehicles are either being flown from Camp Bastion in Helmand province or in some cases moved overland through Pakistan to a sea port, before being loaded onto a ferry.

The ferry then spends over 4 weeks at sea navigating through the Gulf of Oman, along the coast of Yemen, across the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal, before sailing through the Mediterranean, past Gibraltar, and finally turning for UK shores.

Vehicles being returned to the UK from Afghanistan
Vehicles being returned to the UK from Afghanistan arriving at Marchwood [Picture: Shane Wilkinson, Crown copyright]

So far more than 1,080 vehicles and pieces of major equipment have been redeployed to the UK from Afghanistan, alongside 1,570 containers of materiel.

Under current plans, around 3,345 vehicles or items of equipment and around 5,500 containers of materiel will be returned by the conclusion of the British combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of 2014.

The vehicles returned to the UK today will next travel to the Herrick exchange point facility at Warminster where mechanics will work to bring them up to standard ready to issue to units for future use.

Unloading vehicles being returned to the UK from Afghanistan
Unloading vehicles being returned to the UK from Afghanistan at Marchwood [Picture: Shane Wilkinson, Crown copyright]

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said:

Having deployed thousands of vehicles and pieces of equipment to Afghanistan over the last 12 years we are making good progress in bringing them home as we near the end of combat operations in December 2014. A huge amount of work goes into returning our equipment and vehicles from Helmand, so I’m pleased with the progress we have made so far.

The redeployment of equipment from Afghanistan is a major logistical challenge, but I am confident military planners are up to the task and we are on schedule to bring home the vast array of equipment we have deployed there. Our troops will be resourced properly to the end of operations, and the drawdown of equipment will not compromise our mission in Afghanistan.

We can only achieve this redeployment because of the successful transition of security control from British forces to Afghan forces, which are increasingly capable and professional. These forces have stepped up in the fight against the insurgency throughout this summer and now lead on security throughout the country.

Mastiff and Wolfhound armoured vehicles
Mastiff and Wolfhound armoured vehicles waiting to be unloaded at Marchwood [Picture: Corporal Lu Scott, Crown copyright]

The Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre is the sole ‘Army’ port in the UK and was built up in 1943 to ferry equipment and personnel to the Normandy beaches the following year during the Second World War.

The 289-acre site, which incorporates 3 main jetties, is operated by 17 Port and Maritime Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, who load and discharge Service and civilian shipping in support of military administration, exercises and operations.

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25 juin 2012 1 25 /06 /juin /2012 16:35

UK MOD

 

25 June 2012 army-technology.com

 

General Dynamics UK has received a contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply the first systems information exploitation / health and usage monitoring system (SIE/HUMS) to the British Army.

 

Under the £4m deal, the company will install the systems in a total of 578 vehicles, including six protected patrol vehicle (PPV) variants in the operational training fleet to help enhance their availability and operations.

 

Armoured vehicles to be equipped with SIE/HUMS include the Mastiff, Ridgback, Husky, Jackal, Coyote and Wolfhound.

 

According to GD, the selection was based on the cost-effectiveness of the solution and also took into consideration the company's previous work, which included integration of more than 15,000 vehicles from the British Army's fleet.

 

The SIE/HUMS system is designed to enable operators and fleet managers to optimise vehicle use and minimise maintenance by providing accurate performance data, obtained through monitoring of onboard systems.

"The SIE/HUMS system is designed to enable operators and fleet managers to optimise vehicle use and minimise maintenance by providing accurate performance data, obtained through monitoring of onboard systems."

 

Data gathered will also help the personnel to enhance fleet availability, which will deliver an improved army vehicle fleet-management capability, in addition to allowing conditioned-based maintenance where lightly-used vehicles receive less work, which will eventually reduce maintenance costs.

 

The data collected and analysed by the system will range from engine management-system data, such as oil and water temperature, speed, distance travelled, and performance, to information about shocks and vibration, excessive vehicle speed or high fuel consumption.

 

Once the data is collected, operators conduct a statistical time-based analysis to identify potential problems; as more information is gathered, prognostics will also allow for better preventative maintenance practices, which contribute to increasing fleet availability.

 

The system is designed to be generic vehicle architecture (GVA) compliant and can plug-and-play with other GVA devices to improve onboard capabilities, as well as being modified through software configuration to record data as required.

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16 mai 2012 3 16 /05 /mai /2012 16:50
Les Britanniques envisagent de transférer 1 200 véhicules aux Afghans

 

16.05.2012 par P. CHAPLEAU Lignes de Défense

 

 

Selon le MailOnline, l'armée britannique a décidé de ne pas rapatrier plus d'un millier de véhicules et blindés légers lors de son retrait d'Afghanistan en 2014. L'armée britannique déploie actuellement quelque 1 900 véhicules dans le sud du pays; sur ce nombre, 700 seulement (Ridgeback, Mastiff et Foxhound) seraient rapatriés au Royaume-Uni, le reste étant transféré aux forces afghanes.

 

La décision concerne des centaines de Land Rover blindées, des Jackal, Wolfhound, Warthog (photo ci-dessus). Selon le MailOnline, 132 Snatch Land Rovers et 198 Vector seraient aussi rétrocédés aux Afghans. Valeur du parc cédé: près de deux milliards (et non millions) de livres sterling.

 

On se demande si les Afghans apprécieront ce genre de don. Si tous les contingents isafiens font de même, l'armée afghane va hériter d'une panoplie dépareillée de véhicules. Futur casse-tête de mécanos en panne de pièces de rechange!

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15 mai 2012 2 15 /05 /mai /2012 16:50
British Army to donate £1bn of military vehicles to Afghan forces

The British Army's Snatch 2 Land Rovers during Operation Telic in Iraq

 

15 May 2012 army-technology.com

 

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is planning to donate armoured vehicles worth an estimated £1bn to the Afghan National Army (ANA) following the withdrawal of UK troops by the end of 2014.

 

Senior military officials were quoted by the Daily Mail as saying that a preliminary analysis has identified more than 1,200 protected trucks and personnel carriers, which are likely to be passed over to the ANA rather than transported back to Britain.

 

The MoD has listed only 700 vehicles for recovery, which primarily includes the latest and most heavily protected vehicles, such as the Mastiffs, Ridgebacks, Foxhounds, as well as a number of Jackal armoured vehicles.

 

The Foreign Office, which oversees operational policy in Afghanistan, has ordered that 'significant equipment' should be passed to the Afghanistan army and police so they can maintain security when UK troops leave the nation.

 

The British Army currently has more than 1,900 protected vehicles in southern Afghanistan, and the overall cost of equipment to be passed to the ANA is expected to reach £2bn.

 

The vehicles being donated include a number of Wolfhound personnel carriers, some first generation Jackals, a weapons-mounted armoured patrol vehicle and a small number of heavily-protected Warthog all-terrain vehicles.

 

A total of 132 upgraded Snatch Land Rovers will also be handed over, along with 198 Vector armoured personnel carriers to the ANA and police, which mostly operate in a fleet of pick-up trucks.

 

The British Army has also handed over a number of basic vehicles to the Iraqi Army and police, including 400 armoured Land Rovers, which had been used in Northern Ireland.

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