Select Committee on Defence Written Evidence


Further memorandum from the Ministry of Defence on logistics (October 2003)

(Q983)  Planning timelines for OP Telic

  In order to facilitate the planning for any operation in Iraq, the DLO established a Contingency Planning Group (CPG) on 11 September 2002. More general contingency planning had taken place throughout the summer, and some Business Units had been approached by Front Line Commands for the purposes of their own exploratory work, while early consideration of possible UOR requirements began in August 2002. Planning became more focused on specific equipment and deployment options following the formation of the CPG and the PM's statement to the House of Commons on 24 September 2002. On 30 September 2002 authority was granted to consult more widely within the department on UORs. Further clearance to discuss UOR requirements with industry was granted on 2 December 2003.

(Q1016)  (UORs/six month lead time) and (UORs/categorisation)

  We will provide the answer to these questions as soon as possible.

(Q1034)  Chinook loading onto stuft problem

  DTMA chartered ships based on the capacity and capability required to meet the equipment within the deployment Tranches. The allocation of units to vessels within a Tranche was then undertaken by the mounting HQ, in this case HQ LAND, in accordance with the Desired Order of Arrival Staff Table. The details of the ships are passed to LAND in order to allow them to undertake this operation.

  The Joint Helicopter Force (JHF) assets were a late addition to the Force Element Table (FET) and the mounting HQ intended to ship a mix of Chinooks, Pumas, Lynx and Gazelles on two ships, the Dart 8 and Hurst Point (one of the new JRRF RO-ROs), thus avoiding the risk of having "all our eggs in one basket". The two ships were scheduled to sail on consecutive days. In the event, Chinooks called forward for the first ship (the Dart 8) were unable to load due to the angle of the ship's ramp. The ramp has to be absolutely level for loading Chinooks and Dart 8 was unable to ballast sufficiently to reach this level. The second ship's worth of Pumas was therefore called forward and loaded to the Dart 8 along with the allocated Lynx and Gazelles and sailed on the first day. All Chinooks were moved on the Hurst Point on the second day. No delays to shipping were incurred and there were no engineering delays brought about by the inability to fit the Chinooks into the first ship. It was not necessary to dismantle any of the Helicopters to fit the available shipping space.

(Q1037)  Review of RORO

  The MoD has not conducted any review into the use of RO-RO ships since the Strategic Defence Review confirmed the requirement for an expanded sealift capability (six ships in total) to transport equipment for the Joint Rapid Reaction Forces. This strategic sealift service, contracted to AWSR under PFI terms, came into service earlier this year, 20 months ahead of schedule.

  The Department of Transport (DfT) produces a quarterly list of all Military Useful ships under the UK Flag. This list is forwarded to various areas of the MoD, including the Defence Transport and Movements Agency (DTMA), and annually it is incorporated into the Select Committee Report. This data is utilised by the MoD to determine the availability of strategic shipping under the UK Flag. Further details on this document and its distribution can be found at www.parliament.the-stationery-office.cu.uk/pa/cm/cmselect.htm

  DTMA uses established relations with shipping brokers to maintain periodic snapshots of RO-RO availability within the market. Due to operational security and market force generation considerations, caution must be used in order to avoid alerting or spooking the markets, especially during a period of approaching crisis.

(Q1041)  Antanov charter

  No difficulties were experienced in chartering the necessary outsize lift for the Operation Telic deployment. However, it did become apparent that the US was actively chartering and therefore, mid-way through the deployment, the UK committed to AN124 lift in anticipation of the developing requirement. Had this action not been taken, it is likely that available lift would have been committed to the US leaving insufficient for UK needs.

  Although there are 18 aircraft in the AN124 fleet, not all are available for charter at any one time, largely as a result of maintenance requirements. Three companies, Antonov Design Bureau with four aircraft normally available, Polet with two and Volga Denepr with five aircraft, provide the available assets in the civilian market. DTMA sources these aircraft through an enabling contract with a broker, Air Partner. The enabling contract does not guarantee availability, but it does guarantee the price and speeds up the chartering process. The enabling contract is not exclusive and we are able to approach other brokers and the aircraft operators themselves should the need arise.

(Q1047)  Movement Dates

  DTMA approached the market on Christmas Eve to fix the six vessels required for Commodore Amphibious Task Group.

  DTMA approached the market on New Year's Eve to fix the first Operation Telic vessels for the Land component.

  The first vessels to deploy for Op Telic were the Land Enabler vessels on 17 January 2003. These ships were:

    From the UK—MV Southern Trader;

    From Germany—MV Beatrixhaven and MV Velazquez.

  The first vessel to arrive in Kuwait was MV Eddystone, one of the JRRF RO-ROs, which sailed on the 18 January 2003 and arrived Kuwait on the 3 February 2003. (Eddystone is faster than the above three vessels.)

(Q1097)  Review of Logistic Report

  The E2E Review is a fundamental and wide-ranging piece of work examining the totality of logistic support from industry to the front line. As such it is relevant to recent operational activity however it was not driven by Op Telic. The process of assessing and implementing its recommendations is now underway. As the Review progresses forward, there will be full consultation with the Trades Unions and any proposals which impact on civilian jobs or which require major investment will be subject to independent investment appraisal to establish costs and benefits of the options before decisions are taken. Any changes to operational logistics will be fully tested before full implementation to preserve current logistics operational capability.

  A summary of the conclusions of the report has been placed in the Library of the House. This is a wide ranging set of conclusions, and more work is needed in some areas to determine how best to achieve the goals. This work is being conducted in the form of five principle workstreams, facilitated by a series of seven "Pilot" studies. The HCDC is invited to note that the outcomes of these "Pilots" will not provide the E2E Team with a panoply of solutions for the Air and Land environments and it is anticipated that further studies will be required before the full range of efficiencies and savings accruing from the E2E Review can be delivered.

  Minister(AF) has agreed to the release of the full report to the Committee but, in recognition of the sensitivity of recommendations embodied in the Final Report and work which is on-going to validate the hypotheses and individual recommendations, asks that the Committee respect the confidential nature of the report. A copy of the report will be forwarded to the Committee shortly.

(Q1087)  Total Asset Visibility

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