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difficulty. The financial and manpower aspects would have to be pursued with the OMB and the HKG in the normal way.
20.
The Chairman then sought the agreement of the members of the Committee to a proposal that he draft a note to COS on their behalf setting out the decision of the Meeting. He ROW 3b asked that the work to agree the detailed arrangements for finance and manpower be set in hand. The motion was
carried unanimously. DN Plans agreed that the sooner this was carried out the better and it was recognised that an endorsed conclusion before the Autumn should be the aim.
ITEM 5 - HELICOPTER STUDIES
SCOUT
21. DMO gave the background to the study which had recommended that 6 UE and 2 IUR Scouts should be retained until 1 Apr 94. The concept had been incorporated in the LTC but currently there was only provision for 4 x Scout after FY 92/93. There was a need to carry out a further study to confirm the establishment of helicopters and, if necessary, make a case to the OMB for the reinstatement of the existing Scout capability after 92/93. Army Plans would like this decision to be made early and in time for LTC 91. HQBF Hong Kong acknowledged this but they felt that 1991 was perhaps too early. Nevertheless they would
do what they could.
22.
The recommendations of the Scout study were agreed by the Committee.
WESSEX
23. The Wessex study had been completed. Hels 1 reported that it would be possible to deal with the flying hours recommendation through the mechanism of the SD 98 Forecast Review Committee. The LTC 91 assumption was now for a force of 6 AE + 2 IUR Wessex. Once the RHKP had assumed responsibility for the whole border and the majority of the military tasks, the Garrison's half company IS lift requirement would reduce to a single platoon lift. Therefore from about 1993 onwards a force of 4 x Wessex was assumed. This would need to be confirmed by the further study proposed earlier a major factor being the RHKAAF expansion plan which was
was not going as well as had been hoped.
24. The recommendations of the Wessex study were agreed by the Committee.
25. There had been a proposal to exchange 28 (AC) Sqn's Wessex Mk 5 helicopters for Mk 2s as way of moving the latter out of
out of the Atlantic To The Urals region for CFE purposes. The Chairman stated that he was happy for this
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