Daily Record

Troops need more

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AFGHANISTA­N has long been known as the “Graveyard of Empires”.

It was also the graveyard of many so-called defence procuremen­t experts. The history of the conflict was littered with the purchase of what one specialist dubbed “duff equipment”.

The Jackal vehicle is a case in point. As the Taliban built bigger boobytrap roadside bombs, the Jackal was introduced as a mobile fighting platform, designed to manoeuvre troops quickly out of trouble.

But the design was flawed. Roadside bombs could easily rip the vehicle to bits.

After bitter experience­s on the killing fields of Helmand, the Jackal was fitted with better armour but that meant the vehicle could flip over with the force of a blast.

As the death toll mounted, the vehicle was superseded by bigger, better armoured vehicles such as the Mastiff and Husky.

The Taliban built bigger bombs – so we built bigger vehicles.

Defence chiefs have upped their game to deal with the dynamic nature of modern war. Boots, bandages and bullets are better than ever before for the Scottish soldier.

Yet still, Whitehall can take way too long to learn bitter lessons learned in the blood-soaked sands of Iraq and Afghanista­n.

Our troops in the regulars and reserves – such as Jock McKelvie – deserve the best equipment money can buy. It is the very least we can do.

JACKAL IS A DEATH TRAP – PAGE 7

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