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Beyond belief Most of the British armoured vehicles being sent to the Gulf in preparation for war with Iraq’a Ba’athist Socialist regime will arrive not painted in the correct desert warfare camouflage, but rather in the European colours. Not enough money for paint? Did the fact the Army was going to go to Iraq somehow take the Ministry of Defense by surprise?
This shoddy state of affairs is a measure of the true attitude of the Labour Party towards the military they are about to order into action. Yet somehow they find money for welfare payment to asylum seekers and legal aid to burglars who want to sue householders who use force to defend their property.
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At least they can get paint from the Americans. How many British soldiers are going over there with rifles that won’t shoot?
Good point, however, all the hardware the US is sending to the M.E. is also going in the European camo green. I haven’t seen anything about repainting them when they get there but I hope so.
Oops…
To the M.E. from europe that is…
They had lots of paint left over after Operation Granby. I used to go for training courses at RAF Cardington and by early 1991 everything — from flagpoles to Nissen huts — there had been painted desert yellow. The MOD obviously doesn’t want to make the same mistake again…
And giving asylum to not only your run-of-the-mill seeker, but to Taliban combatants and to Algerian GIA islamists (almost by definition, anybody who tries to escape the military government is an islamist). Jeez!
Hey kids… paint ’em Red… all the better for the Iraqi’s to run from… ‘ya wanta scare ’em into wetting themselves in their foxholes like ’91???
In all likelihood, woodland camo equipment sent to SW Asia will be painted soon after arrival. Painting an armored vehicle is a lot more complicated than it might seem to be; US Army standard is to use CARC (chemical agent resistant coating) paint, which can only be applied in special paint booths by operators wearing appropriate protective equipment. It’s very hazardous stuff. I would guess that paint booths would be set up near the terminals where the equipment is offloaded so it could all be painted as it arrives in theater. I think it would be easier, more efficient and more cost effective to do it that way, and in a pinch, you’ve got equipment on the ground when you need it even if it’s the wrong color, as opposed to it being delayed stateside waiting for new paint.
I don’t know if the above applies to the British Army, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. After all, in Germany 1992 my unit had its vehicles CARC painted by a UK contractor.
I’m usually happy to blame Blair, but what has New Labour got to do with this? The MoD and defence procurement have been consistently appalling for _decades_. It has taken them 25 years to develop a sidearm that doesn’t work properly.
Guy’s right. There have been military cock-ups for a long time, centuries in fact.
Is it an urban myth, or did the landing forces at Gallipoli, WWI, really land all the weapons on one beach and all the ammunition on another beach?
Heh.. Maybe after the friendly-fire incident in the 91 war, they WANT to be conspicuous to American eyes..
I’m for the red color.
This won’t be any conventional war, if anything it’ll be more like a turkey shoot, with helicopters and aircraft destroying the enemy, or the little of it that will put up a fight.
The color of the vehicles doesn’t matter, and even in the past didn’t matter that much. So save the expenses, and no painting, but if you absolutely must – red is fine.
Except for the wayward Scud that hit that barracks in Riyadh, Americans killed far more Americans then the Iraqi’s did… and we actually are very sorry about the hit on that Brit Scorpion… we appreciate our brothers across the pond… even though you haven’t shot Robert Fisk yet.
Oh, that’s right, they took your guns… that really blows… got rope?
Considering that friendly fire may be the greater risk, perhaps our forces should outfit themselves like hunters, all in blaze-orange.