This is the final post on infantry structure that has seen the suggestion of a slightly enlarged infantry and a reduced armoured component. 16AAB is unusual in the context of the British Army because it is the only one designed to deliver air manoeuvre, yet as usual, the helicopter assets do not exist to actually fulfil on the vision. Permanent [...]
As we mentioned in the previous post the UK armed forces now have a plethora of vehicles and for the long term a serious amount of consolidation needs to happen, in the short term the existing vehicles should be retained. Phil looked at the issue in a previous post delving into the history of the Operational Utility Vehicle System programme to [...]
Before moving on to our proposed light role and rapid reaction formations I thought a look at the vehicles that might provide the backbone of the mechanised infantry brigades would be worth doing. The UK armed forces have in recent years seen an explosion in vehicle types as a result in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Putting aside the politics [...]
A conventional Mechanised Infantry Brigade has a mix of armoured, armoured infantry, mechanised infantry and light role infantry in addition to HQ, combat support and combat service support elements. One of the central debates preceding the order of battle or establishment of Army formations is what are they required to do, this come from strategy and doctrine. Strategy and doctrine [...]
In the previous post I picked up a picture of the FV620 High Mobility Load Carrier or Alvis Stalwart. The ‘Stally’ was an amphibious load carrier based on the same design as the Saladin and Saracen and was developed into a number of versions including a REME fitters vehicle, fuel tanker and artillery limber. Designed in 1959 it entered service [...]
This short article focuses on the ‘teeth’ arms and specifically armour and infantry units, because everything else, capability wise hinges on these two main elements. Current organisation In total the British Army has 36 Regular Battalions available for service and this total combined with the 14 TA battalions (excluding The Royal Gibraltar Regiment) could give a mobilisation strength of 50 [...]
This a response to the Think Defence article offering an alternative view of how the Formation Recce Regiment might be organized in my ‘fantasy world’ or a reorganized British Army. I would essentially keep the Regiments structure as it is today: Recce (Sabre) Squadrons The biggest change of course would be the replacement of the Scimitar CVR(T) with the shortened [...]
Medium Armour Support/ Reconnaissance Regiment In addition to contributing to an intelligence picture it will provide medium armour support and a number of other functions, primarily equipped with the FRES Scout and related variants, although there is still a place for the lightweight vehicles in order to provide a degree of flexible capabilities. For FRES Scout and the Base Platform [...]
Commentators have been predicting the end of the tank for decades yet the fact remains they are still relevant to a wide range of conflicts, whether that be the traditional heavy metal armoured clashes or used in a coercive capacity in counter insurgency or peace support missions. The Challenger 2 is without a doubt one of the best main battle [...]
How should the field Army be structured? As we have said in previous posts, that depends on the role the UK assumes in the coming years but if we are to make a prediction that despite future conflicts being unpredictable a reasonable guess can be made that the days of heavy armour on heavy armour clashes are likely to be [...]
To kick start the LAND section of the Think Defence Future Defence Review I thought a post on Future Army Structure might be a reasonable place to start. FAS is actually old terminology, first mentioned in the defence 2003 Defence White Paper (Delivering Security in a Changing World) but the Army (as other services) are constantly looking to the future, [...]
We are in the home straight with the Think Defence Future Defence Review and about to start on the Land component. Equipment Armoured vehicles Organisation Territorial Army Anyone got any other suggestions?
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