Defence Secretary Philip Hammond last week visited a military port to witness the return of dozens of armoured vehicles from Afghanistan, Vigilance can report.
According to a source at the MoD the Defence Secretary arrived at the Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre, near Southampton, as a total of 94 vehicles were unloaded following transit from a port in the Middle East. The source said the latest delivery meant that more than 1,000 vehicles and pieces of major equipment had been redeployed from Afghanistan to date, adding thus far, more than 1,080 vehicles and pieces of major equipment have been redeployed to the UK, alongside 1,570 containers of materiel from Afghanistan.
The protected patrol vehicles on board the ‘roll-on, roll-off’ ferry included 18 Mastiffs, each weighing more than 26-tonnes, and more than 30 Jackal vehicles.
Vigilance learnt British armoured vehicles are either flown from Camp Bastion in Helmand Province or in some cases move overland through Pakistan to a sea port, before being loaded on to the ferry.
It was gathered the ferry spent over four weeks at sea navigating through the Gulf of Oman, along the coast of Yemen, across the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal, before sailing through the Mediterranean, past Gibraltar and finally turning for UK shores.
Also, Vigilance gathered under current plans around 3,345 vehicles or items of equipment and around 5,500 containers of materiel would be returned by the conclusion of the British combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of 2014.
It is said the vehicles will next travel to the Herrick Exchange Point facility at Warminster, where mechanics will work to bring them to final unit-entry standard ready to issue to units for future training and use.
Secretary Hammond said: “Having deployed thousands of vehicles and pieces of equipment to Afghanistan over the last 12 years we are making good progress in bringing them home as we near the end of combat operations in December 2014. A huge amount of work goes into returning our equipment and vehicles from Helmand, so I'm pleased with the progress we have made so far. The redeployment of equipment from Afghanistan is a major logistical challenge, but I am confident military planners are up to the task and we are on schedule to bring home the vast array of equipment we have deployed there.”
Hammond added: “Our troops will be resourced properly to the end of operations, and the drawdown of equipment will not compromise our mission in Afghanistan. “We can only achieve this redeployment because of the successful transition of security control from British forces to Afghan forces, which are increasingly capable and professional. These forces have stepped up in the fight against the insurgency throughout this summer and now lead on security throughout the country.”
The Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre is the sole ‘Army’ port in the UK. The port was built up in 1943 to ferry equipment and personnel to the Normandy beaches the following year.
The 289-acre site, which incorporates three main jetties, is operated by 17 Port and Maritime Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, who load and discharge service or civilian shipping in support of military administration, exercises and operations.
