Defective body armour risk to Diggers
EXCLUSIVE by Ian McPhedran
From: The Daily Telegraph
October 29, 2009
DEFENCE chiefs were told more than a year ago about serious safety concerns with combat body armour worn by Diggers in Afghanistan.
Federal Government documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph confirm troops were issued with armour with "known defects".
The documents also show that top brass knew in April this year that troops were forced to use split pins and nails to prevent quick release catches on the armour from failing.
The military ordered 14,688 sets of the suspect armour under a $24 million project and by May this year more than 8400 had been delivered.
Despite two years of field testing by the army, the body armour, known as the modular combat armour system (MCBAS), will now be replaced by a lightweight system called American Eagle that is worn by special forces troops.
The documents show serious failures in the original armour were identified in September 2008 and in February and April this year.
Amid concerns about the impact of weight and a dodgy quick-release mechanism, the armour put soldiers at risk as they attempted to drag the body of Corporal Mathew Hopkins to safety during an ambush in Afghanistan in March this year.
An official report said the armour "did contribute to the difficulty in recovering Cpl Hopkins from an exposed position and evacuating him" to a medical post. According to one document dated September 23, 2008, the armour's quick-release system had opened "without the wearer's intent" when "simulated" casualties were dragged by the shoulder straps by two personnel.
However, despite the numerous documented complaints, Defence Materiel Organisation official Brigadier Bill Horrocks told a Senate inquiry in June "the feedback we have . . . is that they are very happy with what we delivered to them; however, it is certainly heavy".
Another Defence document dated April 6, 2009 said that one inspection had found that 15 sets of the armour had failed.
"Some MCBAS issued to units and members has shoulder straps with single loop brown plastic buckle. These buckles are a known defect," the document said.
Another report dated February 17, 2009 said quick release could not be operated by a single hand pull if the armour was wet or submerged.
Troops in Afghanistan patrol through channels and streams.
So whats the big deal ? is there anyone out there who actually thought that Comrade Rudd and his Government would have ensured that the armaments Australian troops had access to would have given them some advantage over their pontential killers?
Have you forgotten the Australian Labor Party and their betrayal of Australian troops in the Vietnam war already? hwy its business as usual…. Labor and their bankers,the Australian Council of Trade Unions, ACTU,doing what they do best, ensuring that as many Australian Soldiers get killed or injured as possible whenever they are able to do so, by white anting Australian Troops or directly aiding their enemy.
No comments:
Post a Comment