Crashed British Chinook destroyed to keep it out of Taleban hands

British troops have lost a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan after it was hit by ground fire and destroyed by a Nato bomber to keep it out of Taleban hands. The Chinook was hit by small arms fire as it was taking off north of Sangin, in Helmand province. A special forces unit had disembarked with their kit only minutes earlier, but when it lifted off with its four-man crew on board, it came under attack. The engine burst into flames and the crew had to fight the controls to make an emergency landing. They managed to fly the Chinook forward 500m to reach a safe area before landing it, the Ministry of Defence said.

A second Chinook, which was following, picked the crew up. None of the four was hurt. The unrecoverable helicopter was still on fire and a decision was taken to destroy it to prevent Taleban fighters from seizing any of the equipment on board. A Nato bomber was called in and dropped a 500lb bomb on the wreckage. Last month a private contractors MI26 helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade, also in the Sangin district in northern Helmand. Six Ukrainian crew members and an Afghan child on the ground were killed.

Although the MoD never confirm how many twin-rotor Chinooks are deployed in Afghanistan, there are estimated to be between 10 and 13, of which 3 or 4 have been upgraded with extra armour and armaments to be flown on special forces operations. The Chinook, the biggest of the RAF helicopters in Helmand, is capable of transporting more than 50 soldiers and plays a vital part in ferrying troops and supplies around Helmand. With one Chinook down, British Forces will have to rely more than ever on the Americans and other coalition partners to fill the gap. When the Panthers Claw mission began in central Helmand in June, some of the 3,000 British troops involved had to be deployed to their area of operations in American Black Hawks. The MoD emphasised that all Nato assets were shared and played down the controversy caused when it was claimed that British troops had to borrow US helicopters because there were not enough RAF Chinooks in Helmand.

After the incident on Wednesday, the MoD said that Joint Helicopter Command, the tri-service organisation, was preparing to provide another Chinook as quickly as possible, although no details were given on how this would be achieved. The RAF has a fleet of 27 Chinooks, many of them in England at the airbase at Odiham, Hampshire. Any replacement will require an upgrade. The special forces had been promised their own fleet of adapted Chinooks in the 1990s. Eight Mark 3s, with highly advanced avionics, were ordered from Boeing and delivered in 2001 at a cost of £259 million, but the MoD realised they had failed to include in the contract a transfer of the avionics technology software secrets.

The Chinooks could not be certified as airworthy without the software knowhow: the pilots lined up to train on them could not fly them in cloud or poor weather. As a result, the Mark 3s were parked in climate-controlled hangars at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where they remained for the next few years. In 2004, the MoD negotiated with Boeing to upgrade the eight helicopters, including modifications to the cockpits, at a cost of £215 million. But it took 30 months for the programme to be agreed and in 2006 it was announced that 3,300 troops were to be sent to Helmand.

As a result, the MoD decided to cancel the Mark 3 upgrade project and convert the special forces helicopters into ordinary troop-carrying utility aircraft. But the costs for this programme rose from £53 million to £90 million and the eight reverted Chinooks, costing a total of £500 million, are not due to be ready for operations in Afghanistan until next year at the earliest.

http://theasiandefence.blogspot.com/2009/08/crashed-british-chinook-destroyed-to.html

-------------------------------------------------------
"Las Malvinas fueron, son y serán Argentinas"

""Eight Mark 3s, with highly advanced avionics, were ordered from Boeing and delivered in 2001 at a cost of £259 million, but the MoD realised they had failed to include in the contract a transfer of the avionics technology software secrets.""



I just wish Washington would pick up the tab on this one, fvcking brits had or have a chinook that fought at the Falklands in A-stan, the thing needed to be in a military museum with medals pined on her for her service.

The limit on the number of threads that can be started in each forum per day is three, you've started six.

This is a violation of forum rules and i should pick three of them and lock them.

This time i'll let it go but if it happens again i'll give you a warning, simple.

Witch hunting began... I didn`t know that particular topic of the rules of engagement. Is that only applies to forum members or moderators as well? A pitty, this discussion is ruining this fabulous thread. It won't happen again, Master Sergeant...

-------------------------------------------------------
"Las Malvinas fueron, son y serán Argentinas"

I thaught the Merlin was good enough for the job?

Thunder Supports Rafale
http://rafale.freeforums.org
http://rafale.freeforums.org/rafale-vs-f-16-aerodynamics-compared-t69.html

WAFF syndrome explained:

= A pathological liar is someone who often embellishes his or her stories in a way that he or she believes will impress people.

= In psychology, mythomania (also known as pseudologia fantastica or pathological lying) is a condition involving compulsive lying by a person with no obvious motivation.
http://www.bushywood.com/mythomania.htm

The rules apply to all members of this forum, normal members, moderators, admins and even the owner. Don't worry your not being picked on.

If you are unaware of the forum rules then look them up and read them like the rest of us had to.

Here they are just for you.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/286531/thread/1173006296/last-1173006296/Official+WAFF+Rules+%26amp%3B+Regulations


""It won't happen again, Master Sergeant...""

I know it won't.

No offense to the moderators, but this rule is not very intelligent. I totally agree with it when some guy starts posting 5 or 5 threads about convertions to Islam, but when the threads are interesting and military related, I don't see where is the problem. Its even good that some members can bring in more news and discussions.
Ok, just an oppinion.

Yaguarete, do you have any mail or personal webpage contact you can give me? I wanted to ask you a few things about Argentina, if you have time.
My contact/personal blog - www.lutetheinstrument.blogspot.com Gracias!

Quote: So what about the new helos? I thaught the Merlin was good enough for the job?

RAF helicopter crews prepare for Afghanistan

The Merlin Helicopter Force has commenced a four-month training exercise in the United States as the final stage of preparation for its end-of-year deployment to Afghanistan.

The Merlins, from RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, will provide essential support to ground operations, increasing the capacity of UK helicopter lift in Afghanistan by a further 25 per cent.

The training exercise in the US, Exercise Merlin Vortex, is preparing crews for the unique challenges of the Afghan environment such as the 'hot and high' conditions and constant threats they will face on a daily basis.

With temperatures soaring to 50C and rarely dropping below 35C at night the 'hot' part of the training requirement is met in the US desert, along with the opportunity to test landing in dusty conditions.

'High' training comes in the form of mountain ranges of varying heights which, with the high temperatures, means the environment allows the Merlin to operate to the limit of its capabilities, providing outstanding preparation for deployment to Afghanistan.

RAF Sergeant Tom Pringle, a Merlin crewman, said:

"The environment out here is very challenging but I believe that it will prepare us well for success in Afghanistan. Train hard, fight easy. The facilities are great and the Americans have been very welcoming and supportive."

RAF Flight Sergeant John Stone, a Merlin crewman on the Training, Development and Standards Flight, said:

"To train effectively for survival aspects in theatre we need to be operating with all the same equipment that we would have on operations.

"From a tactics point of view I believe that the combination of live firing ranges, to practise self-defence, and representative terrain have enabled us to put together a comprehensive and realistic package of pre-deployment training that is well paced."

RAF Squadron Leader Dave Morris, Officer Commanding B Flight, 78 Squadron, said:

"We came out here to undertake 'hot and high' training for Afghanistan. The area provides a wide variety of terrain allowing us to achieve a high standard of instruction in new techniques.

"The environmental conditions are representative of Afghanistan and the effect of training in this unique location will be to increase the confidence and ability of the crews to a level where they are ready to deploy.

"You can never be too prepared and there is always more training to come but the lessons we learn out here will allow the Merlin Force to deploy with confidence.

"The entire Merlin Force will be able to experience the highest standards of training in a representative environment. The overall feeling is one of confidence that the training received here will allow the Merlin Force to take up its role in Afghanistan and provide the same outstanding level of support that it gave to ground forces in Iraq."

The RAF's Merlin helicopters form part of Joint Helicopter Command; the tri-Service organisation responsible for battlefield helicopters.

While in the US the Merlin crews are based at the Naval Air Facility El Centro in San Diego, the US Navy's main training facility.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/TrainingAndAdventure/RafHelicopterCrewsPrepareForAfghanistan.htm