Questions raised over SAS march tracking kit

An inquest has heard that equipment used to track soldiers taking part in a gruelling SAS test march - in which three soldiers died - was considered problematic.

SAS officer 1A, who can't be identified for security reasons said the tracker was meant to give off location 'pings' every 10 minutes, but the equipment would often not update, would work haphazardly in difficult terrain and was so old, it had to be 'managed'.

The inquest in Solihull heard LCPL Craig Roberts' tracker gave a 'man down' signal at 15.37: the officer and a medic had reached him on the Brecon Beacons ?barely 20 minutes after. Asked by the coroner whether with a man receiving CPR the test march should be halted, 1A replied it was impossible to halt it at that point.

?The inquest into the deaths of Lance Corporal Roberts from Penrhyn Bay and 2 other soldiers as a result of that march on 13th July 2013, one of the hottest days of the year, continues