Defence chiefs accused over 'friendly fire'

British Tank Division patrols desert during Gulf War

A retired British army officer who led a unit hit by so-called 'friendly fire' in the Gulf War says the Ministry of Defence is not doing enough to prevent it happening again.

Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Larpent was in charge of the 3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in 1991 when US aircraft mistook them for Iraqi troops and attacked, killing nine and seriously injuring 12.

The best we can do to protect these soldiers is the same rather primitive precautions that we were able to take 12 years ago

Lt Col Larpent

He accuses the MoD of "serious negligence" for not developing a technical protection system in the intervening years.

"Not enough has been done to address this issue, bearing in mind that we knew 12 years ago that it was an acute threat to our troops," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He said the MoD had failed to make the issue a priority and that they had tended to "shrug their shoulders and say this is inevitable - I don't think that's acceptable".

The MoD denied the commander's accusation and said technical equipment had made a "quantum leap" since 1991.

It's an issue that we take very seriously

MoD

A spokeswoman said a new Successor Identification Friend or Foe computer system was being developed to replace the existing radar-based technology for monitoring the battlefield.

In addition, Watchkeeper, "an unmanned aerial vehicle which allows us to survey the battlefield from the air", was also under construction, but neither would be ready until at least 2004.

The spokeswoman insisted the government was not complacent.

"It's an issue that we take very seriously," she said.

Lt Col Larpent, now retired, said that in 1991 troops would put fluorescent markers on top of their armoured vehicles to help their aircraft identify them.

'Primitive protection'

He said British troops should not be sent to fight in Iraq again until the technology improved.

"We put our commanders in a very difficult position in that they are acutely aware of this threat and they know that they're likely to be asked to put troops into close combat situations alongside American troops," he told Today.

"Yet they know that the best we can do to protect these soldiers is the same rather primitive precautions that we were able to take 12 years ago."

Writing in the Daily Telegraph on Monday, he says some of the men who served under him during the Gulf War could be among the troops deployed to fight alongside American forces in a fresh war against Iraq.

'Serious negligence'

One of those due to be sent to the Gulf is the brother of a soldier killed in 1991, he claims.

"Our chiefs of staff and politicians should consider very carefully the risk that they could be imposing on our troops and how they will answer to the nation if yet more British soldiers become casualties in similar circumstances," he told the Telegraph.

Gulf War veterans dismissed the "spin" coming from the MoD.

"It's coming from civil servants who don't have to face the enemy and it's the boys on the ground who have to go out and do the job with very poor equipment," said Shaun Rusling, chairman of the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association.

The MoD said at the weekend "preparations" were being made should British troops be required for military action.

A deployment to the Gulf, possibly numbering 20,000 regular troops and 7,000 reservists, is expected to be announced later this week.

In August an influential group of MPs warned that the MoD had not done enough to prevent friendly fire tragedies.