Virtually 100 navy autos have arrived again in Britain from Afghanistan.
The armoured patrol autos, together with 18 Mastiffs and 30 Jackals, have been unloaded on the Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre, close to Southampton, because the British armed forces cut back their presence in Helmand Province.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond was on the port to see them being unloaded from the roll-on, roll-off ferry after being transported by sea from the Center East.
The newest supply of 94 signifies that greater than 1,000 autos and items of main gear have been redeployed from Afghanistan to this point.
Mr Hammond stated: “Having deployed hundreds of autos and items of apparatus to Afghanistan during the last 12 years we’re making good progress in bringing them dwelling as we close to the top of fight operations in December 2014.
“An enormous quantity of labor goes into returning our gear and autos from Helmand, so I am happy with the progress we have now made to this point.”
The British armoured autos have been both flown from Camp Bastion or pushed overland by way of Pakistan earlier than being loaded on to the large ferry.
The ferry spent greater than 4 weeks at sea, navigating by way of the Gulf of Oman, alongside the coast of Yemen, throughout the Crimson Sea and thru the Suez Canal, earlier than crusing by way of the Mediterranean, previous Gibraltar and eventually heading for UK shores.
So excess of 1,080 autos and items of main gear have been redeployed to the UK, alongside 1,570 containers of materiel from Afghanistan.
Beneath present plans round 3,345 autos or gadgets of apparatus and round 5,500 containers of materiel might be returned by the conclusion of the British fight mission in Afghanistan on the finish of 2014, the MoD stated.
The Defence Secretary added: “The redeployment of apparatus from Afghanistan is a serious logistical problem, however I’m assured navy planners are as much as the duty and we’re on schedule to deliver dwelling the huge array of apparatus we have now deployed there.”
supply
