The Viking All Terrain Protected Vehicles have proved so effective on operations in Afghanistan that the Marines who drive them are back in Helmand. And there is no other vehicle they'd rather be in. Report by Danny Chapman.





The Viking is a Royal Marine asset, but due to their popularity the demand for their use is high amongst all troops patrolling and conducting operations in Helmand. Consequently, the demand on the Marine's trained to drive them is high too.

To help alleviate the pressure on the two units from the Royal Marines' Armoured Support Company that operate the vehicle, a third unit, from the Queen's Royal Lancers A Squadron, has been trained and recently deployed to Helmand. They are the first Army unit to operate the Viking on their own:

"They have e...

The future of a £4 billion plan to build two aircraft carriers is under threat because of the military's "unaffordable" equipment programme, MPs have warned.

A critical report by the Commons defence committee claims that the Ministry of Defence must make "difficult decisions" which could mean whole programmes being cut.

The scheme to build two 60,000-ton carriers, which form a key part of Britain's future defence strategy, is under question after the committee told the ministry to define the precise role of "these expensive ships" and asked whether the carriers' roles "could not be provided in other ways".

"For too long the MoD has had an unaffordable equipment programme and needs to confront the problem rather than giving the usual response of salami-slicing and moving programmes to the right," said James Arbuthnot MP, the defence committee chairman.

The warships were announced to...