UK's fleet of Merlin helicopters to return home from Afghanistan

Merlins are no longer needed in Helmand because number of British outposts has declined from 137 in 2010 to 11

Britain’s fleet of Merlin helicopters, deployed to ferry troops around bases in southern Afghanistan are returning home in the first clear, visible, sign of the rundown of the UK’s military presence there, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Six Merlins, adapted to cope with the conditions there, were deployed four years ago after commanders repeatedly pressed for more helicopters for help in increasingly intense operations. They are no longer needed in Helmand mainly because the number of British outposts has declined from 137 in 2010 to 11.

Their return to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire is part of a huge operation involving 3,500 armoured vehicles and 12,000 containers. The defence secretary, Philip Hammond, has estimated the cost of bringing the kit back to be £300m. The cost will depend on whether the kit will go overland to the Pakistani port of Karachi or via countries bordering the north of Afghanistan.

The number of British forces in Afghanistan will fall to around 5,200 by the end of this year, from a peak of 9,500 in 2012.

Squadron Leader Kevin Harris, commander of the Merlins at …read more