Nearly half of RAF aircraft unsafe

Military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are being hampered because almost half of the RAF's transport aircraft are unsafe to fly, a Commons report has revealed.

MPs said they were "very concerned" that 34 out of 75 ageing Hercules, TriStars and VC-10s were not up to scratch.

Forty-five per cent of the fleet was grounded for maintenance and not available to take troops and supplies to troublespots around the world.

Soldiers in war zones could suffer shortages of equipment, said MPs.

Defence ministers were pressed to "urgently" replace the creaking aircraft - some up to 40 years old - because of fears that they will not last until replacements are built.

Delivery of replacement Airbus A400M aircraft is already 15 months behind schedule. They will not be available until spring 2011, piling even more pressure on troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I wonder if Brown will say he will give the army whatever they need to complete the job just like Blair did because it seems to me that Blair lied about everything.

If our troops aren’t fully equipped why are we even in those countries? Why aren’t we going to other companies and seeing if they will deliver some of what we need as soon as possible so we don’t have to wait until 2011. If there are more companies working on it surely it will mean that we will just get them faster because they will be working on them at the same time.