Jackal patrol vehicle

[old medic]

The first of a series of inquests into the deaths of soldiers in Jackals in Afghanistan opens next month

From The Sunday Times
June 21, 2009
Tenth soldier killed in ‘flawed’ vehicle
Michael Smith and Simon Trump
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6544203.ece

FAMILIES of British troops killed in the controversial Jackal patrol vehicle are set to challenge the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over its use.

A tenth soldier died when a Jackal was destroyed by a Taliban roadside bomb on Friday morning. The Welsh Guardsman was on a routine patrol near Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, when the bomb detonated.

The lightly armoured Jackal was designed for open terrain but is increasingly being used on Afghanistan’s roads, where it is highly vulnerable to bomb blasts. The Taliban has turned to the roadside bomb as its main weapon against Nato forces, with three quarters of the 32 British troops killed this year dying in explosions, the Jackal being a prime target.

The first of a series of inquests into the deaths of soldiers in Jackals in Afghanistan opens next month with coroners and lawyers for the families expected to question the vehicle’s use. Dianne Sheldon, whose 25-year-old son, Rifleman Adrian Sheldon, was killed last month when his Jackal was blown up at Sangin in northern Helmand, said the family were hiring a lawyer.

“We want to make sure we have the right people there helping us ask the right questions to make sure we get the right answers,” she said from her home in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.

“I had heard about the issues surrounding the vehicle; could its failings have contributed to my son’s death?”

The widening doubt about the Jackal’s deployment follows concern about the lightly armoured Snatch Land Rovers. Families of four of the 37 British soldiers killed in these in Iraq and Afghanistan are suing for compensation. Tony McKibben, whose 32-year-old son Robert, a Royal Marine, was one of two men who died when their Jackal was destroyed by a roadside bomb near Garmsir in central Helmand in November, said he did not want anyone else to lose a son the same way.

McKibben, from Newcastle, Co Down, said: “If it doesn’t do its job properly it needs to be looked at. If nobody stands up, nothing is done. I’ve lost my son but this could stop someone else losing theirs.”

Commanders say the Jackal is well suited to its original role of driving across rough terrain in a reconnaissance or attack role, but is not suitable for Afghanistan’s roads. However, a lack of helicopters and the vulnerability of the two other light vehicles, the Snatch Land Rover and the lightly protected Vector troop carrier, forces the use of Jackals on the road.

“The Jackal is fundamentally flawed,” said Richard North, author of Ministry of Defeat, a new book on the MoD’s failures. “The driver and commander are positioned over the front wheels, making them vulnerable to mines.”

The MoD said: “The Jackal’s great strength is that it can go anywhere – across the most difficult terrain. It is a superb vehicle but could not do what it does were it laden down.”

How will this play out with last month's court ruling ?
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/64325/post-842509.html#msg842509

MoD loses battlefield rights case

Judges have thrown out a government appeal by deciding that the Human Rights Act can apply to British troops, even on the battlefield.
The judgement the MoD appealed against said "right to life" meant it had a legal duty to supply proper equipment.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The Jackal is not the first vehicle in the UK military to be forward control, the 101 and several large vehicles as well. I think the jackal reflects a certain tactical mindset that the Brits have/had. I suspect that people are latching onto this issue as the icing on a very large cake.

 

[Yrys]

Another vehicule under investigation :

Q&A: Snatch Land Rovers


Mother wins Snatch vehicle review

The mother of a soldier killed in Iraq has won the right to a judicial review of the government's refusal
to hold a public inquiry into Snatch Land Rovers. Susan Smith, of Tamworth, Staffs, whose son Phillip
Hewett, 21, died in 2005, is challenging the use of the vehicles in Afghanistan and Iraq. But Mr Justice
Mitting said the review would not cover the present and future use of the lightly armoured vehicles.
They have been criticised for offering poor protection from bomb blasts.

The High Court heard that 37 soldiers had died in Iraq and Afghanistan while using the vehicles since
2005.  However, the judge said the vehicles' present and future deployment was "unimpeachable" in
the courts.

Ms Smith's son, a private in the 1st Battalion Staffordshire Regiment, and two other soldiers were killed
in the Al Amarah region of Iraq on 16 July 2005. Pte Hewett was driving a Snatch Land Rover when it was
hit by a roadside bomb attack on three of the vehicles on patrol. Mr Justice Mitting said three issues could
be investigated if a full inquiry is held:

    * Should different equipment, such as the more heavily armoured Cougar Mastiff, have been procured
      and deployed in 2005 and 2006
    * If so, could the deaths of some or all of the soldiers have been avoided
    * And if so, why was that equipment not procured and deployed

Ministry of Defence lawyers had argued that a coroner's inquest held into Pte Hewett's death was adequate.
But the judge said such hearings were not able to address "systemic issues which give rise to public concern".
After the decision Ms Smith said she was "delighted".

"It is only the first stage, but I am just glad that someone is listening. It isn't just me. You have got three
other families here who have lost their sons, all in similar circumstances," she said.

Damages claim

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said he accepted the court's decision.

"I am grateful for the confirmation that the decision made by my predecessor in relation to the continuing and
future use of Snatch Land Rover was unimpeachable," he said. "I will consider Mrs Smith's revised position,
due at the end of July, in light of the judge's observations. It would be inappropriate to comment further while
the legal process is ongoing."

Ms Smith and at least three other families are seeking damages against the MoD over Snatch vehicle military
deaths in separate proceedings.

The Snatch was originally designed for use in Northern Ireland as a cheap and quick way of moving troops
about.


UK ARMY SNATCH LAND ROVER AND THE RG-31 ALTERNATIVE

Name: Snatch Land Rover                Name: RG-31 - made by OMC         
Defences: Armour to protect against  Defences: All-steel armoured hull
explosions and ballistics; roadside      protects against mines and small arms fire
bomb detectors
Strengths: Quick land transport for  Strengths: V-shaped underside
up to six troops                                    pushes blast outwards
Weaknesses: Questions over level    Weaknesses: Questions  over
of protection offered                        mobility and maintenance
Cost: Approximately £50,000          Cost: Approximately £250,000