Forces shake-up for war on terror

A damning report today reveals how ill-equipped British troops came close to disaster as they invaded Iraq.

Thousands of soldiers were sent to topple Saddam Hussein's regime without basic body armour, desert camouflage or properly-fitting nuclear, chemical and biological (NBC) suits.

Tanks and helicopters lacked spare parts, hundreds of machineguns arrived late and tens of thousands of pieces of equipment simply disappeared in the supply chain, the National Audit Office revealed.

As the report was published, the Ministry of Defence was preparing to admit it had to "learn lessons" and to unveil a series of sweeping reforms designed to make forces more mobile and hi-tech. The defence White Paper was expected to reshape the military to concentrate on the fight against global terrorism.

Big cuts in equipment will hit warships and the RAF's planned new Eurofighter while more cash will be invested in battlefield computer equipment to bring British forces into line with the US, where a whole "digital division" - the 4th Infantry - is equipped with the latest technology.

Overall troop numbers will not be reduced and it appears that Mr Hoon has won a fight against a Treasury move to slash his department's budget.

The biggest immediate reforms are likely to come in support and logistical services. Mr Hoon said the objective was to set out a strategy to ensure "we have the right kind, shape, nature of armed forces to deal with the new strategic environment in which we operate".

But his department's efforts in the Gulf were slammed today by the chairman of the powerful Commons public accounts committee. Edward Leigh MP said: "We expect the men and women of the armed forces to fight and maybe die for us. So it is an outrage that they could not expect all the proper equipment, protection and even clothing to do the job. They were shamefully let down."

The NAO revealed the chaos which led to the Desert Rats being labelled the Borrowers by their US counterparts. The supply chain was so bad that one frontline unit in Kuwait dispatched soldiers to a base in Oxfordshire to find basic equipment designed to protect them from NBC attack. A series of critical mistakes hampered British troops, including:

However, the NAO praised two pieces of equipment which have been at the centre of controversy. The Challenger II tank failed badly in a previous desert exercise, but worked "magnificently" in Iraq, while the SA80 assault rifle, heavily modified after jamming in other combat actions, also worked well.

The NAO praised British troops who still achieved all their military objectives with 57 lives lost, and turned to peacekeeping duties almost instantly.

But the report raised severe concerns about the competence of the Ministry of Defence and its ability to supply the troops. In particular, it detailed a string of concerns about protective equipment supposed to deal with a chemical, biological or nuclear attack.

The entire stock of residual vapour protector kits was unusable, while there was a massive shortage of batteries for the chemical agent monitor and many were switched off.

Many troops threw away vaccines and antidotes to chemical or biological attack because they had no confidence they had been refrigerated properly.

The Army will lose the equivalent of one regiment, about 50 Challenger II tanks, and at least one regiment of about 32 medium artillery pieces. The Navy expects to lose three Type 42 destroyers and two new Type 23 frigates are expected to be sold to Chile.