EU Referendum


Media: the disingenuous Dannatt


15/02/2015



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Gen Dannatt is the man who was instrumental in sending Snatch Land Rovers to Iraq and Afghanistan, and keeping them there long after they had proved lethal.

As Commander in Chief Land Command from 2005-2006, he was also champion of the Pinzgauer Vector, a "protected patrol vehicle" so insanely dangerous that it was dubbed (by us) a "coffin on wheels" before it even went into service. When it had, prematurely, to be taken out of service, it made history by being superseded by the very vehicle it had been designed to replace – the Snatch Land Rover.

Yet, this is the man the fatuous Telegraph turns to to condemn "a decision to deliver dozens of redundant British military armoured vehicles to the Ukrainian government" as "nothing short of immoral".

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The vehicles are the AT-105 Saxon, an example pictured above, photographed in Basra in May 2005, parked close to the inner side of a base gate to prevent vehicle-borne bombs being crashed into the base.

The actual vehicles being sent to Ukraine are in fact a private purchase agreed in 2013, before the current conflict had broken out, for use as protected transport – the purpose for which they were originally designed. The back story is set out in some depth in the superb Think Defence.

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As it happens, for an original purchase price of £100,000 (later increased to about £145,000) at 1984 prices (and now being sold to the Ukrainians at a knock-down $50,000 each), they are not bad value. Furthermore, they offer remarkably good protection against mines, as the photograph above shows – where the crew survived the blast. Had they been in on of Gen Dannatt's Vectors, someone would most certainly have died.

In use by the Nigeria Police Force (as of 2012 and 2013) – which acquired 75 units way back in 1984 – it is much commended for it is ability to survive 9kg of TNT blasts emanating from landmines or IEDs, and its ballistic protection - pictured below. 

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Dannatt, however, tells the Telegraph that he took Saxons out of service 2005/6 "as completely unsuitable for current operations", so he finds it "incredible that they are being sold/gifted to Ukraine", then adding that they are: "quite useless, semi-armoured lorries that should be nowhere near anyone’s front line".

They were withdrawn from Iraq and never deployed in southern Afghanistan, says Dannatt, who then goes on to declare that: "To suggest that the UK is making a significant gesture of support by supplying vehicles which we took out of service ten years ago, because we deemed them unsafe, seems bizarre at best and downright dangerous at worst".

However, Gen. Dannatt is being more than a little disingenuous - the posh word for economising with the truth.  In Iraq, it is indeed true that the vehicle was largely withdrawn, to be replaced by the Bulldog FV432 tracked APC, but even then small numbers were retained in the ORBAT (order of battle) equipping REME repair units.

However, the real reason for its withdrawal was not so much to do with the lack of protection afforded (in some respects the Bulldog was inferior). It was more to do with the fact that, with the communications and electronic countermeasures (ECM) gear needed, plus top cover and weapons, and bar armour - to say nothing of the essential air conditioning - it was top heavy and dangerous to drive.

In fact, after the death of Jason Smith, who died of heatstroke after being "cooked" in a Saxon, the lack of air conditioning may have been the main reason why the vehicle was withdrawn. 

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As to Afghanistan, though, Dannatt is being his usual disingenuous self when he says that it was "never deployed in southern Afghanistan". While that, most likely, is true, it was deployed in Afghsanistan - in the capital, as part of the Kabul Support Unit, where it was photographed in 2004 (above).

Amongst other things, it was used as an armoured taxi, shuttling people - and journalists - between the airport and the UK's Camp Souter (below – photographed in 2007). That the fleet had acquired a new paint scheme and had been modified for the conditions is evidence that they were an active part of the order of battle - not just a forgotten relic.

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And there, demonstrating the front-line nature of its role, in August 2008, Signaller Wayne Bland was killed while acting as "top cover". He had been riding in a Saxon when his vehicle had been rammed by a car containing a suicide bomb. Bland's Saxon had been one of a convoy of three such vehicles, carrying out a route familiarisation exercise. One of the vehicles (modified with bar armour) became part of the Duxford collection (below) in 2011. 

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It is a measure of the power of prestige, therefore, that Dannatt is allowed to keep truth so far over the horizon. But it is also a reflection of how poorly served we are by the media. Dannatt, the champion of the Vector, which caused so many unnecessary deaths, has no business pontificating about vehicle safety. On his watch, a number of disastrous decisions were made.

For a newspaper to feature him critiquing vehicle purchasing decisions (even if he was right) is outrageous. That the man is pouring out untruths and misleading the public puts the story beyond the pale.

But this is the sort of story you get when they are left to amateurs. The journalist Patrick Sawer previous, most recent output has been stories on Downton Abbey and sperm donation. The specialists have long gone, leaving all-purpose hacks who have no history and no understanding of the subjects about which they write.

And these are the people who are going to keep us informed about the referendum?