MoD accused of overruling warnings

An unnamed civil servant alleged that he refused to declare the Royal Navy's Sea King Mk7 helicopters airworthy, but was overruled by superiors trying to save money.

He told the Sunday Times he raised concerns about the aircraft two years before two Sea Kings collided off Iraq in 2003, killing six Royal Navy officers and one American serviceman.

Anti-collision lights on the helicopters had been replaced with strobe lights that hindered the pilot's vision so they switched them off. That led to the pilots losing sight of each other before the collision.

The mother of Marc Lawrence, 26, one of the Royal Navy officers killed, accused the MoD of a "whitewash". Ann Lawrence said: "The inquest was a case of people forgetting where they were and losing key papers. It was a joke."

It follows reports that Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, the most senior British officer to have died in Afghanistan, had warned his superiors that helicopter operations there were "not fit for purpose".

Later, armed forces minister Bill Rammell said he did not believe the lives of any British troops had been lost in Afghanistan due to a lack of helicopter support.

He said: "We do not commit troops, and the service chiefs will confirm this, if there is an unacceptable balance of risk. It is not an issue of ministers being unwilling to commit the resources. That is why we've significantly expanded the helicopter fleet - both in terms of numbers and flying hours and why more are coming."

But the minister added: "That cannot guarantee against the loss of life, because the Taliban have hugely increased their planting of improvised explosive devices. We cannot succeed in Afghanistan just in heavily-armoured vehicles or in helicopters.

"The military will tell you that to win hearts and minds you need boots on the ground - that entails a risk."