Scotland: Misguided Munitions MCA Need To Pose Questions

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

Well Joint Warrior (JW 15/2) seemed to pass of without incident but this week a piece of ‘military kit’ drifted ashore in the Western Isles.

The large Mirach 100/5 military target drone which was found on a beach on North Uist may well have been associated with the exercise but is more likely connected to the ‘QuinteQ’ missile testing range on nearby South Uist.

Targets launched from this facility are used to test missiles (such as the latest version of the Rapier surface to air defence missile) also fired from South Uist and tracked by radar sited on St Kilda far out in the Atlantic.

Anyway BBC Scotland reported the missile range staff recovered the Target so that’s ok then incident over?

Well it should not be the Mirach 100/5 is a quite hefty item of kit over four metres long, two and half metres across and half a metre in diameter.

An object like this floating at sea could cause quite a hazard. Add to that the fact it has tanks of rocket propellant and twin JATO (fuel boosters), these are highly explosive. Questions should be asked by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) as to how a lethal item of kit like this just went adrift.

The chances are that as the Mirach failed to follow its intended trajectory unburned and highly hazardous material was still present while it drifted to land. The consequences of a small vessel ploughing into that at sea you don’t want to image.

However even inert the size of the object in either a collision or snagged by a small fishing craft would be highly dangerous. The Mirach are painted high vis orange but at night to rough sea?

Is it to much to ask that ‘QinetiQ’ fit these dangerous devices with some sort of tracking devices after all if marine labs can track whales in the oceans of the world surely the United Kingdoms primary high tech military missile testing company can do better than this!

BERNARD MOFFATT

Issued by: The Celtic News

26/10/15

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