British army chief has to borrow American helicopter

In the aftermath of the tragic deaths of eight British soldiers in one day’s fighting in Afghanistan, attention has increasingly been focused on the shortage of helicopters for the British Army there. Now, embarassingly, the head of the British army has had to tour Afghanistan with a borrowed American helicopter.

The head of the British Army is touring Afghanistan in an American helicopter, it emerged today, as he demanded more energy behind the push to get troops better equipment.

General Sir Richard Dannatt was transported by a US Black Hawk aircraft on a visit to British troops at Sangin, in the north of Helmand province.

Troops from The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, were also ferried in Black Hawk helicopters when they launched Operation Panther’s Claw against the Taleban in Helmand last month.

Last week the Ministry of Defence was accused of having to borrow American helicopters because there were not enough British ones in Afghanistan.

“Self-evidently … if I moved in an American helicopter, it’s because I haven’t got a British helicopter,” General Dannatt said.

“It’s part of the wider issue. We’re trying to broaden and deepen our effect here, which is about people, it’s about equipment, and yes, of course, to an extent it’s about helicopters as well.”

The issue became the focus of this morning’s Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament, as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron (fresh off a New York Times profile) sparred over the shortage. The good part begins three minutes into the video.

DAVID FURST/AFP/Getty Images