How many bombs is this soldier worth?
by Jura Watchmaker, 3 September 2007
Ignore just for one moment the piddling cost of munitions such as the “improvised explosive devices” that have taken the lives of many coalition soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let’s instead consider prices that western military forces pay for their ordnance.
A single 500lb bomb of the type that has killed thousands of civilians and enemy combatants, and a number of our own soldiers in “friendly fire” incidents, costs around £10,000. Contrast this with a British soldier maimed for life who is awarded just over £150,000 in compensation. This was whittled down from the £300,000 maximum payable under current rules.
Following a public outcry the government yields to demands for a review of injury compensation paid to the 23-year-old, legless Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson, but refuses to acknowledge that there is a problem across the board.
We are governed by moral pygmies who have the nerve to claim that the military covenant is intact.
Monday 3 September 2007 at 17:03
It’s under review.
Tuesday 4 September 2007 at 0:46
Being under review after 6 years is, uh, not exactly stellar.
Tuesday 4 September 2007 at 1:05
Mike’s a bit - err not there.
Posts a lot at HP Sauce.
Means well but a bit of a dafty.
Tuesday 4 September 2007 at 2:25
The formula across the board is being reviewed, not just this case.
Tuesday 4 September 2007 at 2:33
Means well but a bit of a dafty.
The truth is I don’t mean well either.
Tuesday 4 September 2007 at 4:36
Using effective guided bombs minimises the number of soldiers placed at risk, rather than buying less expensive (less accurate & more likely to explode at inconvenient times) weapons. Thus minimises the number of soldiers maimed.
In the case of Ben Parkinson it would be nice to know why he was driving around in a Landie, which is crap at surviving a mine. Doesn’t the UK have a decent MRV?
Tuesday 4 September 2007 at 4:38
MRV - mine resistant vehicle (I visited a milblog once). Similar to MRAP.
Tuesday 4 September 2007 at 10:05
I have a friend who writes regularly for “milblogs”. He writes and speaks miljargon, and thanks me when I beat him about the head with a rolled up newspaper in order to bring him to his senses.
Maybe it would be nice to know why Ben Parkinson was driving around in a Landrover, but it’s not relevant to the present discussion.
Tuesday 4 September 2007 at 17:33
To explain basicly the reason Ben was driving in a WMIK (Land Rover) is simple- it’s what the British army uses, both in Iraq and Afghanistan. The MoD after 6 years has still failed to appreciate that a mine protected vehicle for everyone would be nice. Only a few blokes get the mine proof Mastiff, the rest make do with the death trap Land Rovers. The EU Referendum blog and its Defense of the Realm sister blog have lots of information on this.
Will- thanks for explaining.
Wednesday 5 September 2007 at 10:14
Unaha, the above post answers your question. I can testify to the fact that we used the ‘Snatch’ Landrovers (OK for Northern Ireland, iffy elsewhere) in Basra in 2004 while our counterparts from other Coalition contingents (Italians, Danes etc) had patrol vehicles such as the Scarab (MAV 5, above) and the Mowag (below). Both could be fitted with extra armour for added defence against mines and IEDs:
http://kr.img.blog.yahoo.com/ybi/1/24/56/shinecommerce/folder/8/img_8_13384_3?1183781182.jpg
http://www.armyvehicles.dk/apctest_1.htm
At the start of our tour (May 2004) we were driving into Basra - and to Al Amarah - in the standard ‘Wolf’ Landrovers, which had fuck-all protection whatsoever. Eventually the powers that be realised that this was not a good idea, and the Snatches were rushed into theatre as a snap solution. But then the MOD left it at that, and only started to order Mastiff when more blokes started dying in IED attacks.
The reason why the British Army are using WMIKs and Snatches is due to the breach of the military contract which Francis Sedgemore has written about. Whatever your opinions on Iraq and Afghanistan, the fact that soldiers are being expected to operate with outmoded equipment is an absolute disgrace.
Thank God we’ve got Eurofighter, because that really scares the hell out of the Mahdi Army and the Taliban.
Thursday 6 September 2007 at 13:11
Bastard,
Thanks for the links.