Crews from RAF Lyneham are reverting to Second World War methods of resupplying troops on the front line in Afghanistan by air drops, helping to reduce the danger posed by roadside bombs.

Traditionally, the forward operating bases (FOBs), where front line British troops are located throughout Helmand province, have been restocked by road as air drops have been notoriously inaccurate.

But now stores, which include essential ration packs, are able to be thrown accurately out of the the back of a moving Hercules, helping to limit the danger to soldiers who resupply by land.

It’s only now a viable option because of the introduction of a new computerised system that works out a precise time and location for the drop to begin.

Group Captain Terry Jones, Commanding Officer of Air Assets at Kandahar, explained the importance of the air drops:

 

“If you drop by road, you put a convoy out for a long period where it’s vulnerable to attack and where the vehicles can run over IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and that puts the people at risk. 

“We can lower the burden on those patrols and reduce them to the minimum by making more use of air drops, where we can drop large numbers of supplies very close to the patrol bases and forward operating bases, precisely where the troops need them.”

Air drops to resupply the front line were used as far back as the Second World War, but historically the vast majority of loads never landed where they should.

For that reason the FOBs in Afghanistan have been restocked by road.

Flight Lieutenant Gareth Burdett, Captain of a Hercules C-130 aircraft dropping the supplies, said:

“The challenges with an air drop in Afghanistan have always been knowing what the wind is doing. Dropping stores in the way that we do is a bit like dropping a feather in a corner of a room with a fan blowing.

  “But the kit that we have now enables us to find out accurately what the wind is doing, and therefore we can make sure that from where we release these stores the parachutes will all land in the correct position on the ground.”Because of the accuracy of the new system, the size of the area the soldiers have to clear of improvised explosive devices is greatly reduced. The accuracy with which the pallets fall into a drop zone also makes it easier for the troops to unpack them quickly and take the consignment back to the relative safety of the FOB.

Source: MOD UK