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Page last updated at 09:36 GMT, Saturday, 31 October 2009

Helicopters 'are not a panacea'

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Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup has responded to a leaked memo that showed Lt Col Rupert Thorneloe had warned about the risks posed to troops by a lack of helicopters.

Lt Col Rupert Thorneloe was killed three weeks later by a roadside bomb near Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan.

Sir Jock Stirrup said that Lt Col Thorneloe's brigade commander had told him that he would have liked more helicopters, but that they would have made no difference to how certain operations were conducted.

He said "foot patrols are absolutely fundamental" to counter-insurgency operations, but he admitted he would welcome more helicopters.

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