With no ammunition, UK troops play ‘guns’ [View All]

London, Dec. 31: British soldiers training for Iraq are resorting to playground tactics of shouting "bang bang" instead of firing their grenade launchers because the UK ministry of defence did not buy enough.

The MoD did not have the money to order sufficient Under-Barrel Grenade Launchers for the SA80 rifle, so all those available have had to be sent to Iraq, according to newspaper reports here. They also failed to buy any training rounds so soldiers cannot be trained on the weapon until they reach Iraq. They are having similar problems with the Minimi Light Machinegun because there are no blank attachments, which allow blank rounds to be fired safely, or cleaning kits. Those for other weapons are not suitable. "The Under-Barrel Grenade Launcher is a success and the boys love it," one source said. "But all that’s been bought is the high-explosive ammunition. There has been no buy for any training ammunition." Troops from 12 Mechanised Brigade, who are scheduled to go to Iraq in April, will spend the next three months carrying out training for the deployment. But they will be unable to use either the Minimi machinegun or the grenade launcher because the attempts to cut costs mean that they will not be able to train properly on either equipment until they get to Iraq, claimed a report in the Daily Telegraph. The lack of grenade launchers means that most members of the brigade will not even have fired one until they deploy on operations in Iraq.

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