British Army has run out of machine guns!

February 12, 2008

06 Feb 2008

THE Army has run out of machine guns, The Sun can reveal.

The crisis is unlikely to be solved before JUNE, a leaked report reveals.

British troops "desperately" need 400 of the jumbo 0.5in calibre heavy

machine guns - the weapon most acutely missed.

The Army has also run out of the 7.62mm GPMG and Minimis.

Calling all crooks ... hand in your shooters, the Army needs 'em

Supply has collapsed partly because of a dispute with the manufacturers,

Manroy - which also provides weapons to Saudi Arabia.

The leaked report - prepared for the Army's command centre in Wilton,

Wilts - reveals that generals have urged the Ministry of Defence "to prevent

Manroy delivering Saudi weapons ahead of our requirement".

Generals asked the US to help but were snubbed by the Pentagon - who have

dubbed British colleagues "The Borrowers".

The report says: "We are trying to get 400 guns transferred from the US.

However, the material was provided by US DoD and they are not prepared to

release them. MoD-level engagement is needed to try and get these released."

The crisis is having a crippling effect on training in the UK - with all

available spares being rushed to war zones.

Almost HALF the Minimi Light Machine Guns used at Catterick and Brecon are

also out of commission.

The report adds: "The original spares package was inadequate and usage has

been far above that expected. As a result stocks are very fragile."

Tory MP and ex-Army officer Patrick Mercer said last night: "Thank God the

Army have still got their bayonets - it looks like they may be all they'll

have left. This could have been dealt with months ago.

"Yet again, our fighting men are being imperilled by MoD incompetence."

Last night an MoD spokeswoman insisted: "We have enough guns for operations.

"We recognised a need to increase overall supply and took steps to address

this."

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