HEREFORD MP Paul Keetch is on a mission to free six state-of-the art military helicopters and save SAS lives. All six were ordered especially for the regiment in 1995 but have yet to see active service.

Mr Keetch says SAS lives are at risk as long as the regiment relies instead on aging Puma helicopters, one of which crashed in Iraq last week killing two of its soldiers and leaving others seriously injured.

Neither of the dead soldiers has been named, but their bodies are believed to have been returned to Hereford on Tuesday.

Earlier this year the regiment lost another soldier and saw several more injured when two Pumas collided near Baghdad.

An investigation into the latest crash is underway, but Mr Keetch told the Hereford Times that he had heard straight from SAS soldiers of their worries about flying in "workhorse" Pumas well over 20 years old and not meant for the kind of covert combat missions they are being sent on in Iraq.

The MP is pressing the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Defence to spend the millions needed urgently to upgrade six state-of-the-art Chinook helicopters - specifically designed and bought for special forces work - that have stayed in hangers since they were bought because seperately supplied software systems can't fit into their cockpits.

"Special forces can't be special if their equipment starts to fail them. The SAS develops and uses its own kit, helicopters are the only thing it has to share, and some of them are older than men they are carrying. Both the government and the MoD must either upgrade the Chinooks or invest in alternatives," said Mr Keetch.

The MP and the PM clashed over the helicopters as news of the deaths in Iraq was told to the House of Commons. During Prime Minister's Questions last week, Mr Keetch asked when the six Chinooks would be freed to fly for the SAS in place of the Pumas.

In response, the PM said: "We have ordered more helicopters; more helicopters are there on the ground; and we have the biggest defence programme of capital investment over the next 10 years of any government at any time."

After the exchange Mr Keetch accused the PM of being "totally unfamiliar" with what stopped the Chinooks from flying.

"We're close to the point where the Chinooks themselves are going to need major upgrades. They have already been superceded by newer models," said Mr Keetch The six Chinooks were among eight originally ordered for £259 million by the Conservative government in 1995. Their features included improved range, night vision sensors, and enhanced navigation capability. Problems were clear soon after the first six arrived from manufacturer Boeing in 1998.

Displays for separately supplied radar and other software systems would not fit into the existing cockpits.

Funding for the programme ruled out adopting a fully digital cockpit, so the MoD opted for incorporating both analogue and digital solutions. Then it was found that the software documentation and codes could not be analysed to UK standards - a factor that the original contract did not specify.

As a result, the Chinooks - kept at an RAF base - can only fly above 500 ft in clear weather using geographic reference points and not flight displays. In 2004 the then chairman of Commons public accounts committee called the contract "one of the most incompetent procurements of all time".

The Puma has been in service since 1971 and was designed to transport troops to the kind of battles it was thought it would be fighting in Northern Europe. A series of crashes in recent years has called the Puma's safety record into question.