DTN News: Hercules Crews Begin Supplying Troops In Afghanistan With Air Drops

DTN News: Hercules Crews Begin Supplying Troops In Afghanistan With Air Drops *Source: DTN News / British Ministry of Defence (MoD) (NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - December 12, 2009: Crews from RAF Lyneham are reverting to Second World War methods of resupplying troops on the front line in Afghanistan by air drops, helping to reduce the danger posed by roadside bombs. Air dispatchers load a Hercules with supplies for an air drop to a forward operating base in Helmand province [Picture: Corporal Steve Bain (RAF) ABIPP, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009] Traditionally, the forward operating bases (FOBs), where front line British troops are located throughout Helmand province, have been restocked by road as air drops have been notoriously inaccurate. But now stores, which include essential ration packs, are able to be thrown accurately out of the the back of a moving Hercules, helping to limit the danger to soldiers who resupply by land. It's only now a viable option because of the introduction of a new computerised system that works out a precise time and location for the drop to begin. Group Captain Terry Jones, Commanding Officer of Air Assets at Kandahar, explained the importance of the air drops: "If you drop by road, you put a convoy out for a long period where it's vulnerable to attack and where the vehicles can run over IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and that puts the people at risk. Supplies dropped by a C-130 Hercules aircraft near Forward Operating Base Edinburgh on the outskirts of Musa Qaleh [Picture: Sergeant Keith Cotton RLC, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009] "We can lower the burden on those patrols and reduce them to the minimum by making more use of air drops, where we can drop large numbers of supplies very close to the patrol bases and forward operating bases, precisely where the troops need them." Air drops to resupply the front line were used as far back as the Second World War, but historically the vast majority of loads never landed where they should. For that reason the FOBs in Afghanistan have been restocked by road. Flight Lieutenant Gareth Burdett, Captain of a Hercules C-130 aircraft dropping the supplies, said: "The challenges with an air drop in Afghanistan have always been knowing what the wind is doing. Dropping stores in the way that we do is a bit like dropping a feather in a corner of a room with a fan blowing. A soldier from the Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group retrieves supplies dropped by a C-130 Hercules aircraft near Forward Operating Base Edinburgh on the outskirts of Musa Qaleh [Picture: Sergeant Keith Cotton RLC, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009] "But the kit that we have now enables us to find out accurately what the wind is doing, and therefore we can make sure that from where we release these stores the parachutes will all land in the correct position on the ground." Because of the accuracy of the new system, the size of the area the soldiers have to clear of improvised explosive devices is greatly reduced. The accuracy with which the pallets fall into a drop zone also makes it easier for the troops to unpack them quickly and take the consignment back to the relative safety of the FOB. See Related Links >>> to watch a special BFBS report on the air drops. Lieutenant Daniel Hurt, Second-in-Command of Forward Operating Base Edinburgh near Musa Qaleh, said: "We can secure the drop zone before, so we can make sure there are no IEDs or mines or anything there, and there's no insurgent activity. That way we are happy that it is safe and we're controlling the situation." Speaking about a recent drop he said: Parachutes float supplies down from the sky onto the desert plain near Forward Operating Base Edinburgh [Picture: Sergeant Keith Cotton RLC, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009] "In total I think we moved about sixty tonnes worth of kit and that was all man-handled. "A group of twenty guys did that last night. Picking up a huge volume of stores in the freezing cold of the Afghanistan desert at night in December is not as easy as it sounds, but the troops lifting the boxes on the receiving end were pleased to get their fresh rations." Watching the stores arrive, Captain James Horspool said: "It was eerily quiet apart from the brief flutter of parachutes far overhead, followed by gentle 'thuds' as they hit the ground. "They looked something like jellyfish floating down from the starry skies onto the desert plain."