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4-12-2002 Scotsman New tank transport headache for MoD By Gethin Chamberlain THE Ministry of Defence was yesterday forced to admit to another series of mishaps involving the equipment it would rely on if war with Iraq became a reality. First, the unveiling of the army's new all-terrain transporter vehicle was delayed by the unscheduled departure of a 70-tonne Challenger tank, which was deposited on its turret as the 3 million pounds transporter drove round a corner at 10mph. Then it emerged that HMS Cattistock, a minesweeper with 42 crew on board, was left with a 2ft hole in its hull after hitting a jetty as it was leaving its home base at Portsmouth. The failure of the new tractor and trailer transporters was possibly the more embarrassing of the two, but only just. Having spent £290 million on a 20-year deal to acquire 92 of the transporters as part of a private finance initiative, the army was putting the US-built vehicle through its paces at Carter Barracks, on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, before unveiling it to the public. Designed to use advanced self-levelling technology to carry battle tanks at 50mph across the roughest terrain, the transporter was being driven at 10mph across hard-standing when its load of one £2 million Challenger II tank toppled off as it took a corner. An MoD spokesman said: "The tank came off a trailer being towed by a heavy tractor unit and landed on its roof. It's rather unfortunate, to say the least, that a tank has ended up upside down, but fortunately no-one was in the tank and there were no injuries. An investigation is under way as to what caused it." To complete the MoD's miserable day, it emerged that the minesweeper HMS Cattistock had been holed, in what the government department described as a "relatively minor incident", when it struck a jetty while manoeuvring out of its berth at Portsmouth. Although none of the 42 crew was hurt in the collision, the vessel, one of only 11 Royal Navy minesweepers, was left with a 24-inch hole in its hull. The incident, which was only reported yesterday, happened on 23 November, and the minesweeper is currently out of action. It is the latest in a series of embarrassing incidents involving navy vessels. Last month, HMS Trafalgar, a nuclear-powered submarine, ran aground off Skye, while repairs to HMS Nottingham, a type-42 destroyer, look likely to exceed £26 million after it hit rocks close to Lord Howe Island, 200 miles off the coast of Australia, in July. The destroyer is now being carried to UK waters for repairs which will take place at Portsmouth naval base and could take anything up to 18 months. The £115 million warship's future had been in doubt after the accident, which nearly sank her and caused extensive damage to her hull.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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