As attacks on coalition forces in Iraq continue, the
government has admitted inadequate IT systems contributed to delays
in delivering equipment to British troops in the campaign to topple
Saddam Hussein's regime.
A report on the war published by the MoD last week highlighted the
need for a common tracking system to keep tabs on equipment. It
revealed that, although most kit was sent out to the Gulf in time,
difficulties with tracking sometimes led to distribution problems.
Parts of a radio frequency identification-based Total Asset
Visibilty system that is used by US troops to track kit were
purchased by the MoD before the start of the war. But there was
little time to integrate it.
"Integrating this system into the UK's supply chain and providing
sufficient training for operators in the space of three months was
a challenging undertaking," the report said.
This meant that only a limited part of the system's capacity was
used.
The government admitted that the tracking system was unavailable
for the early phases of the deployment and full visibility of
stores only reached as far as forces' entry point into Kuwait.
These factors, combined with limited logistics information systems,
meant it was difficult to track specific equipment in the field and
decide when to send spares.
An MoD spokesman confirmed that the ministry will be looking
closely at the issue of equipment tracking over the coming months,
although he described the war as a logistical success. He said, "It
was a successful campaign in terms of logistics but there are areas
that need to be looked at."
However, he added that the Total Asset Visibilty system, which
monitors pallets and containers of equipment, was a leap forward in
forces' tracking abilities. It also proved particularly valuable in
the later stages of the operation, according to the report.
With about 46,000 UK troops involved, Whitehall has cited logistics
as a major factor in the success of the campaign. In total, a
similar size land force was deployed in less than half the time
achieved during the 1991 Gulf war.
Peter Spens-Black, IT director and former Royal Navy IS programme
manager, said tracking thousands of pieces of equipment in a
military campaign is extremely difficult. "You have to look at this
in context - we are talking about hundreds of thousands of tonnes
of equipment. The MoD has done quite well within the context of
what taxpayers can afford," he said.