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UK to beef up air presence in Gulf
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain is to boost its airforce deployment in the Gulf by adding more than 8,000 people with additional fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has announced. The numbers, revealed in the House of Commons on Thursday, are in addition to the thousands of maritime and ground force deployments already announced. Some elements of the Royal Air Force are already in the region, flying with U.S. aircraft to enforce the no-fly zones in the north and south of Iraq. "It will be obvious to the house that this represents a very substantial contribution by the RAF to the building of a credible threat of force in support of the policy objectives, which I have previously set out," he said. He added it was still possible for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to disarm peacefully. But he said: "Time is running out. The Iraqi regime must decide whether it will comply with its obligations or face the consequences." The defence secretary told MPs reports that British forces would have to stay in Iraq for three years were "simply speculation." He acknowledged that "our forces will be in the Gulf for as long as it takes to disarm Iraq and the regime of Saddam Hussein." Hoon said deployment plans were for 100 additional fixed wing aircraft with 7,000 support personnel and 27 helicopters. In his announcements last month, Hoon said about 26,000 Army troops would be deployed along with additional ships and personnel from the Royal Navy. No decisions, he said, had been taken to send British forces into any military action, and he refused to discuss the specific tasks to be undertaken by the RAF. But he said the troop deployment was necessary to make it clear to the Iraqi president that he has no choice but to disarm. The force will include E3D Sentry aircraft for airborne command, Jaguar and Tornado reconnaissance aircraft, VC10 and Tristar refuelling aircraft, Hercules transporters, with Tornado F3s, Tornado GR4s and Harrier GR7s providing an offensive capability. In addition, the RAF element of the Joint Helicopter Command would provide 27 Puma and Chinook aircraft and about 1,100 personnel.
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