ANALYSIS:Equipment deficiencies appear to be putting British troops at risk in Afghanistan, writes Tom Clonan.
THE ROYAL Irish Regiment (RIR), consisting of hundreds of soldiers from both sides of the Border and currently deployed to Helmand province in Afghanistan as part of the British army's 16th Air Assault Brigade, is serving alongside the Parachute Regiment in liaison with local Afghan security forces.
Perhaps more than any other units of the British army serving in Afghanistan, the RIR - formerly the Ulster Defence Regiment - and the Parachute Regiment are acutely aware of the danger of roadside bombs in counter-insurgency operations. During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, both units suffered high casualties arising from roadside bombs planted by the Provisional IRA, a tactic remarkably similar to that being used by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Last week, four British soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan whilst travelling in a lightly armoured "Snatch" Land Rover. One of the soldiers was Cpl Sarah Bryant.
In the media furore over her death, the British government confirmed that 43 soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan while travelling in these light vehicles - with a spike in numbers in recent months.
Death by roadside bomb attack now poses the highest risk for British soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq. In Afghanistan alone, a total of 18 British soldiers have been killed in such attacks this year.
Eighteen British soldiers - 16 of whom were members of the Parachute Regiment - were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Warrenpoint in Co Down in August 1979. After that attack, the British army, along with the Royal Ulster Constabulary, adopted a policy of not travelling by road in south Armagh and other vulnerable Border areas, with the Snatch Land Rover being deemed insufficiently safe where roadside bombs posed a particular threat.
Given that background, members of the RIR and Parachute Regiment are believed to be particularly uneasy about the ubiquitous use of the Snatch Land Rover in Afghanistan. A member of the RIR told The Irish Times that many troops in Afghanistan were frustrated and worried by the lack of helicopters and heavily armoured vehicles.
The British army has only eight Chinook helicopters and eight Puma helicopter variants to ferry its 8,000 troops over heavily mined and vulnerable road routes in their area of operations. Similarly, due to Labour cutbacks in military spending, only eight Apache helicopter gunships are available to provide air support to isolated British outposts spread over thousands of square kilometres in Helmand.
The helicopter fleet is under tremendous pressure due to continuous operational demand, with both machines and flight crews close to burnout. With insufficient air support, troops from the RIR and Parachute Regiment are forced increasingly to take to the track network in Helmand province in road convoys, leaving them particularly vulnerable to IRA-style roadside bomb attacks - along with the type of vehicle-borne suicide bomb attack now being favoured by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
There are approximately 50 armoured personnel carriers in Afghanistan capable of protecting British infantry troops from roadside bomb attack. This relatively small fleet of armoured vehicles, along with poor air support, would be considered inadequate for a force of 8,000 troops fighting a counter-insurgency war.
It would appear the lessons learned - the hard way - by the Parachute Regiment and RIR in Northern Ireland have been forgotten or ignored by British politicians and civil servants. As the casualties from roadside bombs continue to mount in Afghanistan, the lessons of Northern Ireland may have to be relearned - by soldiers on the front line.
Dr Tom Clonan is the security analyst of The Irish Times. He lectures in the School of Media, DIT.