Search: Afghanistan Land Rover
Conservatives have accused the Government of cutting by half the number of new patrol vehicles to be purchased for troops in Afghanistan to replace vulnerable Snatch Land Rovers.
Officials travelling with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to visit UK forces in Afghanistan indicated that an announcement was expected within weeks of £100 million for 200 new vehicles which will offer better protection to troops.
But shadow defence secretary Liam Fox raised questions about the order, which he said was originally intended to deliver 400 vehicles.
"We have been waiting for years for replacements to the Snatch Land Rovers," Dr Fox told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.
"There is one very curious element about this, because the public tender that was put out was for 400 vehicles to replace Snatch. The Prime Minister yesterday said it would be 200. What happened to the other 200?
"Tomorrow in Parliament, I will be tabling questions to find out whether this is yet another cut to the equipment on Treasury orders."
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
The soft-skinned Snatch Land Rovers are blamed by troops for many of the deaths caused by roadside bombs planted by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. The new British-built vehicles, which are due to be delivered to the front line by late 2011, are said to offer world-leading armour along with high manoeuvrability.
Dr Fox's comments came as Tories maintained their attack on the timing of Mr Brown's visit, which followed immediately on from his evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War.
The Prime Minister's evidence that, as Chancellor, he provided the military with everything they asked for has come under fire from former chiefs of the defence staff, who accused him of being "disingenuous".
Admiral Lord Boyce and General Lord Guthrie said that, while individual urgent requests for equipment were indeed financed, the military suffered from a wider shortage of funding to fight two wars.
