Right tools for the mission
Lorne Gunter telling it like it is.
The biggest question I have is why more hasn't been done to beg, borrow or steal some chopper support for the Afghanistan deployment. Are the Americans that over-stretched they can't spare a few airframes for the Canadians to take over? Hell, there's got to be a couple thousand MI-8T Russian choppers around that we can rent. Regardless of the cost, we need the capability.
It's been obvious since the beginning that most of the casualties were coming from the resupply convoys to our forward bases. I'm glad to hear the Husky and Buffalo minesweeping vehicles will be on the ground in a few weeks. This is a capability we should have had before even deploying into the Kandahar area.
Picture from the Canadian American Strategic Review
(click on pic for full size)
Update: second link fixed. Here's an article from today's Globe and Mail regarding the purchase and deployment.
The biggest question I have is why more hasn't been done to beg, borrow or steal some chopper support for the Afghanistan deployment. Are the Americans that over-stretched they can't spare a few airframes for the Canadians to take over? Hell, there's got to be a couple thousand MI-8T Russian choppers around that we can rent. Regardless of the cost, we need the capability.
It's been obvious since the beginning that most of the casualties were coming from the resupply convoys to our forward bases. I'm glad to hear the Husky and Buffalo minesweeping vehicles will be on the ground in a few weeks. This is a capability we should have had before even deploying into the Kandahar area.
Picture from the Canadian American Strategic Review
(click on pic for full size)
Update: second link fixed. Here's an article from today's Globe and Mail regarding the purchase and deployment.
posted by WE Speak at 6:17 p.m.
2 Comments:
Hate to be the wonky web guy, but the second link returns an error.
Its not like they were not available. They were. We were offered MI-17s to buy or lease. But we were not takers. Russian aircraft were junk and we wanted Boeings or nothing because we deserve the best and the new Conservative government was going to buy them. Remember this?
http://www.sfu.ca/casr/bg-airlift-russians.htm
How about this?
http://www.sfu.ca/casr/ft-helicopters.htm
These articles are from 2006. And now, suddendly we realise that 2012 is a little late for waiting for the Chinooks?
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