Despite some justifiable criticisms of the Viking armoured vehicle (many from this correspondent after the death of 10 soldiers), one commander told me it had saved nine of his soldiers' lives, and was the only protected vehicle light enough to manoeuvre in the "Green Zone" of narrow bridges and roads, while providing an excellent fire-support platform with its medium or heavy machine gun. Certainly, there is better protected transport that the MoD could purchase, but much of this week's criticism is the legacy of the deployment of the vulnerable Snatch Land Rover, which is no longer used for operations (although worryingly one was spotted outside a base in Sangin).