The BBC rolled out its defence experts on the 6 o-clock news, A Vice Admiral ( obviously a veteran of the navy's Iran debacle) stated that, " If there were more troops on the ground there would be no need for such constant close air support" The implication being British troops are constantly involved in close quarter battle scenarios with the Taliban and need close air support to get out alive.
He also stated that, American air cover has saved more lives than have been lost to blue on blue situations, a great comfort to the families and friends of those young soldiers who died. (May they Rest in Peace)
There has previously been a shortage of Rover Terminals that allow the FST to see precisely what the pilot is looking at on his targeting pod. There are also always communications issues with the hot and high atmospherics in Helmand province. Rover terminals are expensive but lives are cheap. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the invstigation
