Afghanistan: Ammunition

House of Lords written question – answered at on 8 January 2007.

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Photo of Viscount Waverley Viscount Waverley Crossbench

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether any units of the Armed Forces in Afghanistan have run out of ammunition; if so, what the circumstances were; how long was the delay before resupply; and whether any lives were placed at risk.

Photo of Lord Drayson Lord Drayson Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Defence Procurement), Ministry of Defence, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Procurement)

At no time have troops on the ground run out of all ammunition types available to them. There have been occasional instances where units in remote locations might have exhausted supplies of a particular ammunition type during a specific attack or operation. In such instances, our helicopters have done an excellent job in resupplying ground forces, sometimes in very dangerous circumstances.

In the rare incidents where we could not get UK troops stocks of specific ammunition moved forward within the required operational timeframe, we have shared stocks of coalition force ammunition. It is standard practice to share equipment between ISAF nations where necessary and on occasions the UK has provided ammunition to other nations.

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