Britain’s Special Forces on highly-sensitive airborne missions face being grounded for TWO YEARS

British Special Forces on highly sensitive airborne operations could be grounded for two years if controversial plans to replace their famous Hercules aircraft go ahead, it was claimed last night.

MPs and veterans raised the alarm that elite forces might be unable to mount some key missions until the replacement Airbus A400M Atlas is fully adapted to their requirements in 2025. 

They fear that would include high-altitude parachuting as well as low-level drops of fast attack boats.

Now, Ministers and defence bosses are being urged to give the C-130 Hercules a stay of execution until its successor is capable of meeting what the SAS and SBS need.

Tobias Ellwood, Tory chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, said: ‘It would be a major security error if the decision to drop the Hercules was not reversed. 

British Special Forces on highly sensitive airborne operations could be grounded for two years if controversial plans to replace their famous Hercules aircraft (pictured: C-130 Hercules) go ahead, it was claimed last night

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MPs and veterans raised the alarm that elite forces might be unable to mount some key missions until the replacement Airbus A400M Atlas (pictured) is fully adapted to their requirements in 2025

‘The niche SF [Special Forces] capabilities developed around this proven workhorse cannot be easily replicated with the larger A400M.’

Former SAS member Mal Stewart told The Mail on Sunday the A400M was ‘big, noisy and simply not suited to low-level covert operations’ and said pressing ahead with it was ‘a bonkers move’.

Former Guards officer and Tory MP Richard Drax warned RAF chiefs last week that the changeover was ‘affecting our military effectiveness’ and urged them, for the sake of SF members who ‘risk their lives for us’, to keep the Hercules for another two years.

Ministry of Defence sources dismissed fears of any short-term threat to SAS effectiveness yesterday. 

However, RAF chiefs told MPs last week that ‘a small number of niche capabilities’ will not be available with the A400M when it finally takes over in June. 

At the Defence Committee hearing, Mr Ellwood claimed it was ‘to save money’.

Air Marshal Sir Richard Knighton appeared to agree but warned that the Hercules ‘needed a very significant fatigue modification and upgrade’. 

He stressed that the RAF was ‘very plain with what those niche capabilities were and what the potential operational impact is’, and that Ministers had concluded ‘that level of operational risk was small enough to be tolerable’.

Last night, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘The Atlas A400M is a versatile aircraft, offering the opportunity to approach those tasks carried out by the C-130, including military parachuting, in a different manner, so will not simply replicate how the C-130 currently delivers the mission set. 

‘The RAF is working at pace to ensure the military effect delivered by the C-130 is either replicated through A400M or delivered in a different way by this more modern and capable aircraft.’

Labour warned that scrapping Hercules without a ‘proper replacement’ would make it harder to carry out Special Forces operations.

Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey said: ‘There are growing questions over whether our forces are well enough equipped to carry out their vital work.’