Britain gets ready to deal with Syrian chemical weapons

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Britain is preparing to reinstate military units capable of securing Syria’s chemical weapons axed in the spending review two years ago, as response to President Barack Obama’s decision to intervene in the conflict.

Defence chiefs have ordered an urgent reevaluation of the cuts, designed to save £129 million a year from 2011, to ensure  Britain’s cooperation in any US-led coalition force  sent in to prevent Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles from  falling into terrorist hands.

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Sources told The Daily Telegraph that the Ministry of Defence is expected to decide   as early as this week that mothballed equipment could be brought back into service, and more specialist personnel assigned to the role. The expanded regimental role could  be declared operational before the end of September, the source said.

“The MoD has been engaged in a very rapid re-think of what Britain is able to do in Syria, and concluded that the lack of a capability would largely prevent active participation in a US ground incursion, or even a post-conflict offer to sort out chemical weapons sites that are vulnerable to terrorists’ looting,” the source said.

Officials are believed to have sought millions of pounds from other parts of the defence budget to fund the restored units, which originally consisted of five squadrons of highly-trained troops totaling around 500 in all. Two of the former regiment’s nine specialist Fuchs NBC Reconnaissance vehicles that had been put in storage are already undergoing tests and the rest will be reconditioned for battlefield roles. It is not yet known how many troops will be involved.

The German-made armored troop carrier is sealed and equipped for missions inside contaminated zones, with tasks including the provision of cordons, rescue operations and retrieval of suspect material.