Written question asked by Owen Paterson (Conservative) on Thursday, 29 June 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 3 July 2006. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Monday, 10 July 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department has carried out strategic analyses of the experiences from the use of improvised explosive devices by the counter-insurgency in Iraq; whether he has made an assessment of whether the tactics used by the insurgents in that theatre are likely to be met elsewhere in future British Army deployments; and what the implications are for (a) force structures, (b) equipment, (c) tactics and (d) training for (i) medium-weight armoured formations and (ii) other formations intended for deployment as a rapid reaction force.

Answer: We constantly assess all threats to UK forces deployed in theatre at the strategic, operational and tactical level, including evaluating whether these threats are likely to migrate to other theatres in the future.The Ministry of Defence has an established process to review operational experiences, which provides the primary mechanism whereby we can translate lessons and best practice into enhanced capability. As a result force structures, for both deployed and reaction forces, equipment, tactics and supporting training are continuously evolving in order to meet counter-insurgency threats in the most effective manner. The MOD does not comment in detail on specific measures taken in order to preserve operational security, and to protect the effectiveness, capability and security of UK and coalition forces.

Secondary information