Cannibalisation of Britain's Apache attack helicopter squadrons for spare parts has trebled since 2003 because of the punishing tempo of operations in support of frontline troops in Afghanistan.
Figures released by the Ministry of Defence show that 251 parts were stripped out of other gunships in the 12 months up to January 31 this year to keep the eight machines used as flying artillery in Helmand province available for missions. This compares with 80 incidences in 2003 and 72 in 2004.
The MoD said: "All UK helicopters deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are considered fit for purpose, but not all will be available for operational flying each day due to routine maintenance requirements.
"However, these factors are taken into consideration, and sufficient helicopters are provided to meet current operational requirements.
"Cannibalisation is an accepted short-term measure employed by aviation forces around the world to ensure the maximum number of aircraft are available. It is often the only course of action where replacement items cannot be sourced in the required time frame."
Major-General Ton van Loon of the Royal Netherlands Army, who was in charge of the coalition's southern command last year, added: "Without helicopters, operations in southern Afghanistan are not possible. It is unacceptable that a soldier dies because the medevac helicopter and its attack helicopter escort are not available. Several times last year, we came very close to not getting this right because we were stretched."
Lord Drayson, the UK's former procurement minister, denied last year that shortages put anyone's life at risk.
"There is no shortfall of spare parts for Apache helicopters in Afghanistan."
The MoD claims that commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan had enough helicopters to do "key tasks" although it admits that "with more they could do more".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article