UK Strategic Defence and Security Review

Britain refused to be a great military Power

In Britain announced massive reductions in military budgets and armed forces - the most popular since the end of the Cold War. Vzglyad conducted a detailed analysis of the announced cuts: apparently, the power of the British military machine as a result of reduced quality.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced plans for a major reduction of armed forces of the United Kingdom. For the sake of reducing the budget deficit, which now amount to about 155 billion pounds, the British are willing to sacrifice an aircraft carrier, nearly half of tanks and heavy artillery, and besides national pride in the aviation industry - such as fighter aircraft Harrier.

The full version of the budget presentation to Parliament to be released late Wednesday. In this case, the scale of reductions in the army will be considerably less than in other public institutions, say the British media, placing it in the merit of the traditionally pro-war "of the Conservative Party, to which the current British prime minister.

However, Cameron said that the planned measures in no way affect the defense of the royal armed forces, defense spending since the UK will be consistent with NATO standards.

He explained one of the reasons for declining the fact that the previous government had left him a legacy of "tear" in the defense budget by 60 billion dollars. And tried to appease the U.S., assuring that the costs of the Afghan operation will not be reduced - in fact, involved in fighting with Taliban troops will reinforce the additional technical equipment.

Decrease the military budget will affect even the forces of nuclear deterrence. Ballistic missiles, sea-based Trident be replaced with new ones. Here are just a warhead will be less than: 40 charge on every SSBNs instead of 48 now. The total number of nuclear warheads in the UK (including zaskladirovannye) will be limited to 180. The question of replacing the four strategic submarines of the "Vanguard" is postponed for four years - until the next government.

Introducing the report on the outcome of a five-month review of the defense strategy of the United Kingdom, Cameron suggested that an 8% reduction in total military spending of the country over the next four years. In addition, the coalition government of the Tories and the Liberal Democrats decided to reduce the size of the armed forces by 42 thousand, informs BBC.

Noticeable reductions expected the Royal Armoured Corps. The number of Challenger 2 tanks will be reduced by 40% (Photo: wikipedia.org)

Thus, according to the document entitled Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), Army (Army) to be reduced from 102.5 to 95.5 thousand people, the BBC - from 38 to 33 thousand people, the Navy - from 35 to 30 thousand people. Civilian staff of the Ministry of Defence will drop from today's 85 to 60 thousand people. Moreover, until 2020 there is still a number of cuts.

What does this mean in practice? Of the 17 Army brigades available today, six of which are equipped with a rapid response teams ("forwarding") to remain five and 10 territorial reduction "survive" eight. In this case, the 16 th air-assault brigade (16th Air Assault Brigade), which structure also includes three Army Aviation Regiment, touched until.

Noticeable reductions expected the Royal Armoured Corps. The number of Challenger 2 tanks will be reduced by 40%. The exact numbers remain in service vehicles is unknown: the British did not disclose the number of its armored forces. We only know that from 1993 to 2000 plants Alvis Vickers was built just over 400 such machines, and 38 of them - for export, by order of the Kingdom of Oman.

It is believed that the Challenger 2 are among the most protected tanks in the world: during the second operation against Iraq, reported the British sources, one tank was kept in part fighting ability, even after being hit by the 1914 cumulative grenades and a RPG PTRU Milan.

Given the high cost per unit (approximately 5.59 million euros), to put under the press 100-120 almost brand new tanks would be a luxury. But also to sell the "Challenger" to just anyone British could not: they are very proud of their multi-layered composite armor type Chobhem "and reluctant to share their secrets, even with allies. Most likely, the formidable fighting machines awaiting conservation, which allows to quickly bring them into line.

Probably share the fate of the tanks and 155-millimeter self-propelled howitzers AS-90. Of the 179 cars in service will remain 116. It is noteworthy that in this way the Royal Regiment of Artillery (actually composed of several regiments) will be reduced to a minimum number in history, as AS-90 - is today the only type of cannon artillery system of modern Britain, not counting the 105-mm light towed howitzer L118. The basis of artillery island nation are now missile systems of volley fire (MLRS).

No luck, most likely, aircraft vertical takeoff and landing type Harrier - to be allowed to be scrapped next year, with both land and sea planes, which now is in service with three squadrons. And if in the Royal Air Force plan to replace their fighters Eurofighter Typhoon, a 800-squadron of naval aviation remain even without aircraft, at least until then, until they arrive fighter F-35C US-made.

The pride of the Royal VMC - aircraft vertical takeoff and landing type Harrier - be allowed to be scrapped next year

In this case, "Harriers" would be difficult to sell to third countries, such as sea Harrier FRS.2, who in their time willingly become India for its carrier-based air group. The fact that the resource airframes of these aircraft, even modifications GR.9, obtained by extending the lifetime of the aircraft older versions, will be exhausted within the next five-seven years. In addition, the buyer will have problems with maintenance and replacement parts for aircraft, decommissioned in the producing country. Will not save the situation and the fact that aircraft modifications AV-8B Harrier II in operation in the U.S.: the fact that it is somewhat different branch of the basic design with the features.

Thus, the former "mistress of the seas" for about a decade remains airborne deck aircraft: the reduction "vertikalok" will disappear and the merging of shock Air Wing (Joint Strike Wing, formerly Joint Force Harrier), which consisted of the Air Force and Navy units, armed with these machines . Land pilots while practicing on the decks of aircraft carriers, so if necessary to carry out combat missions and floating airfields, as was first demonstrated in 1982 during the conflict with Argentina.

As is clear from the document structure in the future of naval aviation is expected to build on a similar principle. It seems that the British finally abandoned the procurement of specialized maritime version of the fighter F-35B, having the possibility of short takeoff and vertical landing, similarly dismisses the "Harrier". Instead, the Air Force and Navy will receive a "single" somewhat cheaper aircraft F-35C, adapted for launch from a catapult ship and landing on the deck. At the same time with the new British aircraft carriers, as today, will fly as pilots and aircraft in the RAF. While the total demand is estimated at 48 copies of these machines. Meanwhile, the transfer of various structures for the preparation of marine pilots, maintenance materiel, and the like into the hands of the Air Force, while reducing parallel structures in the Navy promises some savings.

Accordingly, loses its meaning and content of the three shock carriers Ark Royal, Ocean and Illustrious. These ships are equipped with ramps starting system Sky-jump. And the alleged F-35C will not be able to fly with them full time: before each flight will have to sacrifice something - or the duration / flight range by reducing the mass of fuel, or reducing the combat load. In both cases, the efficiency of expensive multi-functional fighter will not be much longer than that of the Harrier.

That is why, as announced in SDSR, new British aircraft carriers with a displacement of 65 tons will be equipped with catapults. In addition, they are intended to equip a few systems that allow, when necessary, and release the French carrier-based fighter Rafale M.

Composition of the wing peace-time in a document is defined in 12 fighters F-35C, 12 heavy assault helicopters, Chinook and Merlin in the same troop or ASW variants and eight attack helicopters, Apache.

The first is expected to write off the "Ark Royal", to be followed or Illastries ", or" Ocean "and the last of them finally proklassifitsiruyut a helicopter, which he in fact is, though, and is capable of receiving aircraft.

Meanwhile, plans for a quick and decisive strike forces cancellation of materiel fleet causing criticism of the country. "They must be replaced with two" monster "with a displacement of 65 tons each, but on the ground even three years after commissioning in general will not be planes, and the second will have to convert for the French and American fighters. And despite the fact that the carriers will cost about one billion pounds (1.6 billion dollars) a year, and in case of actual conflict with the same China, they will, according to experts, quickly started up on the bottom ", - wrote on Wednesday, the London Guardian.

However, Britain as an island state, is not going to sacrifice too fleet. The said document envisages limiting the number of ships of ocean area, destroyers and frigates, 19 ships instead of the current 24. In the ranks remain six of the most modern destroyers, Type 45 (class "Darling") and 13 frigates, Type 23 (class "Duke"), and all four frigates Type 3.22 will be debited. Note that both the British destroyers and frigates in connection with the reduction of threats from submarines are a type of versatile vehicles with guided missile weapons. They are able to act against the sea, and against air and ground targets. Do not forget that the program of construction Type 45 destroyer continues, and by 2013 their number will reach six units, which compensates for with an excess of disabling the old frigates. In addition, after 2020 to replace the class frigates "Duke" come-the-art ships of type 26, developed as part of Future Surface Combatant.

Astute - Leading the boat in a series of seven submarines, which should make the main striking force of the British submarine fleet. One of them - actually Astute - is being tested, the other three are under construction, and three more are planned to be built.

Not affect the reduction and plans for the construction of the universal class nuclear submarines Astute, plans to continue building a series of seven units. If by Wednesday the construction of the seventh submarine still doubt, then, after publication, they disappeared. Vzglyad already introduces the class submarines Estyut, the first of which is transferred to the Navy in August of this year. Recall that, depending on the type of mission, these boats can carry not only the torpedoes, and cruise missiles, produced from the torpedo tubes submerged.

As already mentioned, the RAF soon lose Harrier, which are currently the only aircraft close air support (according to our classification roughly correspond storming) in their composition. Nevertheless, the shock component will be cut even further by reducing the number of fighter aircraft - bombers Tornado GR.4 (in this modification of aircraft soon went into the class of bombers for the midget heights). How many of the 129 aircraft will be removed from the as yet unknown, probably it is a very old machines that are close to exhaustion of resources: we recall that the Tornado GR.4 obtained by the profound modernization of aircraft type GR.1 program "Modernization of the mid-life cycle" . In total, this modification was redone 149 aircraft, of which remain in active service 98. It is assumed that up to 2012 drums "Tornado" will replace the latest Typhoon FGR.4, however replacement is not complete, one-to-one reduction will undergo a minimum of three squadrons, largely due to reduced orders for the Typhoon.

However, it should be noted that to replace the multi-purpose "Typhoon", though capable of acting against ground targets, but comes primarily in air defense squadrons, from almost completely replaced the interceptor Tornado F.3. Only one, the 11 Squadron is currently focused on execution of shock problems while performing the functions of air defense.

Thus, RAF practically deprived of the shock components, at least until the F-35. Of the 10 existing today attack squadrons (three on the Harrier, four in the "Tornado" and one on the "Typhoon") in the near future, only five remain. In this regard, it no longer seems an insane idea to eliminate aircraft radar reconnaissance Sentinel R.1, intended primarily for the targeting of ground and sea targets of strike aircraft. Note that these very expensive machines accepted for service only in 2008.

Also reduce the sea scouts and anti-aircraft Nimrod simultaneously with the closing Kinloss air base, where they are located. According to Cameron, they will be replaced by cheaper drones.

Analyzing the reduction plan, it becomes obvious that the strategy of the UK is becoming more defensive, at least in the European theater of operations (TVD). Indeed, for obvious reasons, the emergence of a major war on the continent is becoming increasingly less probable event. In addition, the reflection of a military threat to Europe is seen in the West as a coalition war of NATO against a potential aggressor. In this case, cash, NATO is more than enough, because the Soviet tank armies, with the support of thousands of aircraft alliance is no longer threatened. Hence the reduction of tactical weapons: artillery, combat aircraft, and even tanks, which at present their numbers have ceased to play a decisive role in strategic balance of forces on the continent.

But on the other hand, despite the criticism in The Guardian and other media, Britain is still striving to be a valuable U.S. ally in the implementation of the latest global strategic plans. However, this role is largely assigned to a compact but powerful fleet of three dozen most modern ships of the universal ocean areas, can play an independent role within the continental theater and be a valuable part of the coalition forces outside it.

In other words, Britain no longer sees itself as a great military power. "British Prime Minister found the courage to admit that the country in the foreseeable future can not afford an expeditionary force of more than 30 thousand people, that is, Britain will no longer afford operations like the Iraq war in which at least initially , were involved in a third more troops ", - informs Guardian. Nevertheless, the British contribution to any of the Western coalition will continue to be very valuable and sometimes indispensable.

The armed forces of Great Britain cut the defense budget to 1.6 billion pounds in the next fiscal year

LONDON, January 27. (ARMS-TASS). UK armed forces continue to review articles of the defense budget in the direction of reducing them in the next fiscal year (2011-2012 gg.) Cut military spending by another 1.6 billion pounds. Reported by the Ministry of National Defense.

In particular, it will be reduced fleet of fighter-bomber Tornado from 134 to 60 units, which would save 300 million ft.st. per year.

Despite the decision by the previous government's support helicopter fleet of British forces in Afghanistan, the quantity ordered Chinook helicopters will likely be reduced by 12 cars.

In what country's Defense Ministry will continue to review articles of the military budget and will review opportunities to reduce them. They can get the cost of fighter aircraft Harrier, reconnaissance aircraft, "Nimrod", frigates and aircraft carriers Ark Royal "and" Illastriaz.

Currently, the UK Ministry of Defence has 34 major weapons procurement program in the near future and will decide which of them will be subjected to reduction and what programs could be reduced in order to save military spending.

Forces prepare for axe to fall on fighter jet fleet in drastic cuts package

The Armed Forces are braced for another round of drastic cuts as the Ministry of Defence has to make up a £1.6 billion shortfall for the next financial year.


By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent 5:25PM GMT 25 Jan 2011

Key defence officials are meeting on Tuesday to thrash out the details of how to make immediate savings to the 2011/2012 budget.

The RAF is bracing itself to its fleet of 134 Tornado GR4 fighter-bombers being slashed in half to just 60 jets to save up to £300 million a year.

Despite challenging the previous government over the helicopter shortages in Afghanistan a key decision will be the likely announcement to cut 12 extra Chinooks that were part of a package ordered by Gordon Brown.

Other important equipment programmes are going to be axed in what will be an embarrassing revision of last October’s Strategic Defence and Security Review.

The MoD has been forced into making the extra cuts after it miscalculated savings in the next financial year.

It was supposed to save £8 billion by 2014-15 as a 7.5 per cut real terms cut to its budget. Half of this was meant to come through headline equipment cuts such as the Harriers, Nimrod reconnaissance planes, frigates and the aircraft carriers Ark Royal and Illustrious. The rest was to come through axing 17,000 Servicemen and 25,000 MoD staff as well as “efficiency savings”.

Service chiefs will sit down today at the Defence Board’s meeting on planning round 2011 (PR11) to discuss what will have to be cut with officials warning that “everything is on the table”.

“We have 34 major procurement programmes and it’s a question of what’s nice to have and what’s necessary to have but no one can see how to take that decision because they’re all regarded as vital,” said an officer involved in the planning.

They will also discuss other savings including exchange rates, fuel and personnel costs.

Operations in Afghanistan could come under threat if the decision is made to chop the fleet of Reaper and Predator unmanned drones that spy and attack insurgents. The move would save an estimated £100 million.

Another candidate for cuts is the new armoured reconnaissance vehicle to replace the ageing Scimitar light tanks. An estimated £100 million would be saved if the MoD cancelled the FRES (Future Rapid Effects System) Scout project with £500 million over four years.

While the Navy suffered the worst cuts out of all three Services in SDSR it could face losing another Type 23 frigate or more likely a Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker or supply ship.

Although politicians are adamant that there will be no further personnel cuts defence planners are contemplating reducing the Army by a further 5,000 to 90,000.

Ministers were supposed to take the decision on some aspects of further cuts tomorrow but all the main decisions have been delayed to March.

“There is not an endless supply of money and people need to realise there is a serious financial situation and there are difficult choices to make,” one MoD official said.

The Treasury is unlikely to step in to make up the shortfall, he added.

A senior military source said: “What we are being asked to achieve is virtually impossible without wholesale reduction of UK forces worldwide.

“People always said if you thought SDSR was bad then just wait until PR11”.

A MoD spokesman said: “We keep a range of options under consideration at all times regarding future capabilities but no final decisions have been taken.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/8279447/Forces-prepare-for-axe-to-fall-on-fighter-jet-fleet-in-drastic-cuts-package.html

Spending on military could fall after general election, David Cameron admits
But Prime Minister pledges troop levels will stay at current levels under future Conservative government

A future Conservative government could cut spending on the Armed Forces to below two per cent of the country’s budget, David Cameron has admitted.

The Prime Minister refused to pledge to maintain funding at its current level of two per cent of GDP, the target set by Nato, saying the military would not be protected from cuts necessary following the general election.

However, he did promise to keep troop strength at the current figure of 80,000, saying he did not want to see levels fall and adding that numbers of reserve troops were actually rising.

"I don’t want to see our regular armed services reduced below the level they are now, " he said. "It’s a commitment I’m happy to make, I don’t want to see that happen.

"We’ve actually seen the overall number [of reservists] go up, but we are now getting the recruits in. Many countries that we should model ourselves on in terms of model armed forces do have that balance between regular and reservist.

"Sometimes people look down on the reservists but they have been fighting and on occasions dying in Afghanistan."

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Cameron repeatedly refused however to rule out cuts to the military budget, saying: “Let’s see how these things develop, that’s going to depend on the decisions we make, on what happens with the economy.”

Last month, Lieutenant-General Ben Hodges, one of the United States’ top generals, warned that the UK could be left unable to cope with growing threats from abroad if spending fell below the Nato target.

Military spending has already been cut by eight per cent in real terms since the Coalition came to power, and the Royal United Services Institute has predicted it will fall further, to 1.88 per cent of GDP, in the next financial year.

But Mr Cameron defended the Government’s management of the defence budget, saying: "We made a choice.

“We faced an impossibly difficult situation in 2010, we had a massive budget deficit, one of the biggest in the developed world, we had to get that down, but we said defence was important so we froze the defence budget.

“As a result we still have the fifth largest defence budget for any country in the world.”

Saying that there were "four months this year to save Britain’s economy" before the general election in May, the Prime Minister defended the Coalition's decision to impose severe belt tightening on the Armed Forces, saying: "Defence is a very good example of how this government has shown competence in delivery.

"We inherited a situation in defence where there was a £35 billion black hole, we’ve closed that black hole, we made our defence forces more efficient."

Senior Officers Face Axe in Latest Round of UK Army Cost Cutting Measures

The move is aimed at improving the efficiency and professionalism of the British military leadership.

MOSCOW, January 24 (Sputnik) — Up to a third of senior officer positions in the British Army may be cut as part of a new reform package, The Independent reports.

General Sir Nicholas Carter, Chief of the General Staff and the driving force behind the reform, intends to improve the efficiency and professionalism of the top brass by getting rid of the "pen pushers and yes men", the newspaper adds.

"The Army recognizes that mistakes were made during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that it needs to change its culture and delegate more decisions to commanders on the ground," BBC defense correspondent Jonathan Beale said. According to the news agency, it is as yet unclear exactly how many of about 200 brigadiers and generals the British Army currently has will be relieved of duty. The BBC also notes that the number of regular army personnel is also being reduced from 102,000 to 82,000 by 2020.

The Telegraph also points out that General Carter seeks to abolish a long-standing tradition of senior officers being loyal to their regiments first and to the army as a whole second. The changes, prompted by a review of the British Ministry of Defense bureaucracy initiated in 2011, will be implemented in April, according to the newspaper.

How Britain's Armed Forces numbers are diminishing

Ministry of Defence officials are looking at cutting the Army back to as few as 60,000 regular soldiers because of an impending financial crisis in the military budget, a former Armed Forces minister has said.

Sir Nick Harvey, who was a defence minister for the Coalition until 2012, said the potential reduction was being looked at as part of "background scoping work" ahead of this years' defence review.

The British Army is already currently being cut to its lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars following the 2010 round of spending cuts.




The cuts will see the number of regular soldiers fall from 102,000 to 82,000 by the end of the decade.
At the same time the Army is attempting to grow the number of reservists from 19,000 to 30,000.

British Army May Shrink to Smallest Number in 250 Years

In the worst-case scenario, the UK defense budget would drop to 1.95 percent of GDP, which is below an obligatory two-percent commitment agreed at NATO level.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Up to 30,000 British army personnel could be laid off by the end of the decade, reducing the number of troops to a 250-year low, the Royal United Services Institute warned in a report published Monday.

The report came amid the United Kingdom's continuing austerity drive. On Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond declined to say whether further defense spending cuts would be introduced if the UK Conservative party is re-elected in May.

Earlier in March, US Army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno expressed concern over Britain's cuts in defense spending. Odierno told the Telegraph that he viewed Britain as a close ally of Washington, sharing the same goals. The general stressed that "multinational solutions" were needed to resolve the problem of the UK budget reduction.

The British government is currently implementing a reform outlining a reduction of 20,000 in regular army personnel. The reduction is set to be completed by 2020.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20150309/1019241595.html#ixzz3TtcuqWkM

Defense Cuts Mean UK Air Force Planes Rented Out to Travel Agent

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20150521/1022414538.html#ixzz3ao7NepKe

The British Royal Navy Is Down to 17 Frigates and Destroyers

by DAVID AXE

The Royal Navy was, quite recently, one of the world’s leading fleets. But that was before several rounds of deep budget cuts, the most recent in 2010, that compelled the senior service to officially decommission some of its best ships. The escort force arguably suffered the most, declining to a modern low of just 13 Type 23 frigates and six new Type 45 destroyers. And now the escort force has shrunk even further.

https://warisboring.com/the-british-royal-navy-is-down-to-17-frigates-and-destroyers-d65f29e5b064#.qk9dgsb3i

New shock brigades of the British Army

The US and French armies have "medium" ("medium weight") combined arms brigades equipped with families of wheeled armored vehicles capable of rapidly moving over long distances. The British army currently lacks connections of this type. Blog bmpd brings to your attention the translation of the article of the senior researcher of the British International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Ben Barry "Striking a balance: the British Army's new strike brigades".

The 2015 Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) outlined the need for Britain to restore its military capabilities in large-scale military operations, including the creation of two strike brigades (Strike Briðades), as well as an increase in the total number of combat ready Brigades of the British army from four to five. They were planned to be formed, in particular, due to the reorganization of one of the existing armored brigades.

The new brigades will be organized as follows:

• One regiment (battalion equivalent), equipped with prospective caterpillar fighting vehicles of the Ajax family, acting in reconnaissance role;

• The second regiment, equipped with Ajax family machines, which should be used for fire support (in accordance with the new concept of the British Army - "medium armor role");

• Two motorized infantry battalions;

• Artillery, engineering, logistics and medical units and units.

The infantry battalions of the shock brigades will use the perspective wheeled armored vehicles MIV (Mechanized Infantry Vehicle). The army is interested in the speedy adoption of MIV for armament, but the car has not yet been selected in the relevant tender and the delivery dates have not been announced. Another main weapon system for shock brigades should be the Ajax tracked combat reconnaissance vehicle, created on the basis of the General Dynamics ASCOD 2 infantry fighting vehicle.

While MIV will increase the mobility of motorized infantry battalions to the level corresponding to the armies of France or the United States, Ajax, despite its good security and ability to cross the rugged terrain, is likely to move more slowly over long distances. In comparison with the French and American counterparts, the British shock brigades are unlikely to be able to quickly transfer the entire train over long distances. The French battalion, for example, was able to cover a distance of 2,000 kilometers in five days during the military operation in Mali in 2013.

In response to the worsening situation in the field of European security and the emergence of Russia as a strategic rival, the SDSR put forward two key requirements for the British Army: to restore the possibility of using three brigades in full force, and the formation of additional combat brigades from the existing armed forces. The only ready for deployment deployment of the British Army, 3rd Division, is being reorganized with an increase in the composition of three to four brigades: two existing motorized brigades and two new shock brigades.
Regardless of the SDSR, it also appears that the number of Challenger 2 main tanks in service will be reduced from three regiments to two, and another regiment will be rearmed with Ajax machines. Given the increased importance of tanks demonstrated by the wars in Iraq and Syria, as well as by fighting in the east of Ukraine, the above decision may seem counterintuitive to common sense by reducing the strike power. However, some of the associated risks are mitigated by the fact that the army is funding a program to extend the life of the Challenger 2 tanks.

The bmpd comment. The formation of two shock brigades equipped with new "medium" caterpillar armored vehicles of the Ajax family, and then also perspective wheeled MIV BTRs (the type of which is yet to be selected) is the main direction of modernization and reorganization of the British army. The project of creating percussion brigades on "medium" armored vehicles causes unequivocal reaction even among many British military specialists, although it is clear that the idea is based on the desire to get connections with relatively high operational and, to a lesser extent, tactical mobility.

In 2017, an experimental strike group (Strike Experimentation Group) should be formed within the British army in Warminaster in Wiltshire, which should serve as the basis for the formation of the 1st Strike Brigade by the end of 2019. The 1st shock brigade should include two armored reconnaissance regiments (Household Cavalry Regiment and King's Royal Hussars) that will be equipped with Ajax armored vehicles (the second of these regiments is now tanked and equipped with Challenger 2 tanks) and two infantry battalions (1st Battalion Scots Guards and The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland), which should eventually receive an MIV BTR. The second shock brigade (4th) will be formed by 2025. The offices of both teams should be stationed together at Catterica in North Yorkshire, with all four of their armored reconnaissance regiments on the Ajah vehicles being deployed together in Salisbury for the convenience of combat training.

Also, according to the latest plans, each strike brigade should include an artillery regiment (presumably, they will be equipped with 155-mm light towed howitzer M777A2), an engineer regiment, a medical regiment and a combat support regiment (including logistics support and repair units),

So far, the experimental strike group will include one armored reconnaissance regiment and one mechanized infantry battalion, as well as a logistics support regiment and a repair battalion. The total number of personnel is 2,000 people. Prior to receiving the Ajax and MIV machines, the experimental strike group will be equipped with obsolete lightweight crawler armored vehicles of the CRV (T) family and Mastiff MRAP wheeled armored vehicles.

Supplies of Ajax family machines should be launched in 2017. In total, under a contract worth 3.5 billion pounds, General Dynamics UK is to supply up to 2024 to the British Army 589 machines of the Ajax family (Scout SV), including 245 Ajax cars themselves (of which 198 linear "reconnaissance and strike" machines, 24 equipped vehicles Ground reconnaissance radars and 23 machines for advanced surveillance and fire adjustments), 93 Ares armored personnel carriers (including 34 UAV vehicles), 112 Athena command vehicles, 51 Argus reconnaissance vehicles, 50 Apollo repair vehicles and 38 Atlas repair vehicles. The first military squadron of the British army should be equipped with Ajax family cars in mid-2019.

All 245 Ajax machines will be armed with towers with 40-mm CTAS automatic cannons with telescopic shots. The rest of the family are armed with remotely controlled Kongsberg Protector combat units with a 12.7 mm machine gun.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2586899.html

British State Armaments Program for 2018-2028





https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3432990.html

In the modern British army there are more horses than tanks.

Alexander Sharkovsky (Deputy editor in charge of HBO)

British Prime Minister Theresa May, on the eve of her resignation, has to defend herself harshly. In such a situation, first of all, they fly away from the heads of those close to whom confidence has been lost in difficult situations. With the first stroke of the ax, the hostess of the residence at Downing Street 10 dismissed Defense Minister Gavin Williamson. It is significant that in this case, almost no one noticed the loss of the minister, the British military department continued to function in the same manner. I remember that during the entire period of his tenure at the ministerial post, young and zealous Gavin Williamson repeatedly threatened Moscow and Beijing with certain force measures. Now, looking back, it is still interesting to re-evaluate what the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom possess. And how real were the threats from the ex-minister.

By the way, the head of the British Ministry of Defense, Penny Mordont, who previously held the post of Minister of International Development. And it seems that the new appointment will not make any significant changes in the life of the British military. However, there is one historical innovation - Penny Mordont is the first female minister of defense in British history.

GENERAL FIGURES

So, let us return to the assessment of the armed forces, the state of which (I repeat once again) the change of ministers does not affect in any way. In the ground forces, the number of fully trained military personnel (in accordance with the required level of combat capability) gradually decreased every year (during the last decade of years). By April 2017, the regular component of the British army consisted of 78,407 bayonets (instead of the planned 82,000). The shortage in the number of personnel is observed both in the Air Force and in the Navy. All the figures in the article are taken from open sources on the English-language network.

Currently, the regular component of the British Armed Forces includes about 147 thousand bayonets that are in the state of the required combat readiness. The Royal Navy has a total of 33,500 people, including about 7,000 marines. The number of ground forces is balancing in the region of 81 thousand bayonets, 2900 Gurkas (fighters of the “colonial troops”) must be added here. The Air Force serves 32,880 people. The military leadership (this is a committee of the chiefs of staffs, not the Ministry of Defense) plans to increase the number of Army (Ground Forces) to 82 thousand by 2020, the Navy to 30 thousand, the Air Force to 33 thousand

Reservists (and this is a separate component of the Armed Forces of Great Britain) total about 50 thousand people. Of these, they are now actually periodically entering service: in the Ground Forces — 30,320 people, 3,600 fighters assigned to the Navy and 2,930 to the Air Force. In addition, 49,320 civilians serve in the Misty Albion military department.

ROYAL FLEET AND STRATEGIC FORCES

Britain for many centuries, almost before World War II, was considered the strongest maritime power. Let's see what the United Kingdom has now. First of all, it is worth mentioning the four nuclear submarines (APL) of the Vanguard class (with a displacement of 15,900 tons) with ballistic nuclear missiles on board. Each such submarine carries 16 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) from the Trident II (D5) submarine launch, the total arsenal of each nuclear submarine is 40 nuclear warheads. In the future, the possibility of increasing the total strategic arsenal to 58 missiles is being considered. The replacement of the strategic nuclear submarines now in service with new models is planned for the mid-2030s.

The fleet has three Astute class submarines (7400 tons), each has 38 mines for launching rockets and torpedoes, the Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles (CD) and Spearfish high-speed torpedoes (reach speeds of up to 150 km / h) are in service with these submarines . Another submarine of this class is being tested and three are currently at different stages of construction. The British fleet has three old submarines of the Trafalgar class (5300 tons) in service. Each of them has 30 launch shafts and the weapons are the same (only inferior in number) as the Astute class submarines.

The surface fleet consists of one aircraft carrier, six destroyers (armed with KR), 13 frigates also from the KR (in the future their number will be increased to 19). Naval aviation includes 9 squadrons. The plan (except for frigates) has already been laid, and it is planned to begin construction of 5 nuclear submarines, 2 aircraft carriers and 6 destroyers.

The combat component of the Royal Marine Corps includes: 3 commando battalions, two helicopter squadrons, one artillery regiment, one engineering squadron, one transport regiment and other support and support units (I deliberately did not consider the management structure, of course it is).

The main striking force of naval aviation in the near future will be fighters of the fifth generation F-35, there is already a contract for the supply of 48 units of this technology, so far 12 or more vehicles have been made available to the Royal Navy (up to 24).

GROUND TROOPS

The land component of the Armed Forces or the British Army does not look so threatening to date as it did during the world domination of the English crown. It makes no sense to consider its structure above the brigade level, in order to understand what forces Misty Albion has on land. We will not take into account the formation of logistic support. So, the total combat units in the army of the United Kingdom according to data obtained from open sources: nine tank regiments (in reality, most likely, much less), 31 infantry battalion, 13 artillery regiments; 10 - engineering, 4 regiments of army aviation, 3 reconnaissance battalions.

According to the BBC, the British army has 334 Challenger 2 main tanks, other media indicate that only 156 of them are on the move. By the way, journalists, mocking the British Armed Forces, noticed that there were more horses than tanks in the ground forces. And the livestock of horses increases every year, and the number of "Challengers" - decreases. Further, the British have about 2,200 units of infantry fighting vehicles of various modifications, about the same number of light combat wheeled vehicles. Artillery is not numerous: up to 40 volley fire systems, about 100 self-propelled guns, a little more than 230 units of army air defense systems. And I almost forgot - about 470 mortars (mortars) of the caliber of 81 mm. Army aviation has about 130 helicopters of various types and about 50 heavy UAVs. By the way, horse livestock, attributed to the British army, is close in number to 600.

ROYAL AIR FORCE

Let's see what forces the British can lift into the air. The Air Force has 11 attack squadrons, two subunits of heavy UAVs, two squadrons of control planes, three squadrons of air tankers, five subunits of VTA, seven helicopter squadrons, two subunits of landing airplanes, two search and rescue squadrons, 8 air defense regiments.

Since we are only interested in the offensive forces of the British, let us forget about air defense / missile defense of Foggy Albion. The Royal Air Force Park includes: 160 Typhoon multifunctional fighters, of which no more than 112 are operational; Tornado GR4 / 4A fighter-bombers are listed as many as 90; Hawk training and combat aircraft of various modifications - 60 pieces; air tankers Voyager is listed 14 units, but in working condition no more than 12; airplanes for various purposes from fire support to the BTA Hercules in the presence of 24 sides; C-17 transporters listed 8 pieces; five drone reaper; 52 Chinook helicopters and 24 Puma helicopters. The specified helicopter fleet is assigned to the combined forces of NATO. In the future, in the next ten years, it is planned to replace the "Hercules" of the C1 - C3 series with 22 sides of the A400M Atlas.

The British also have a “Special Operations Force Joint Force”. This is primarily the 22nd SAS (Special Air Service) regiment, which is a regular part in all corners of the world (on the instructions of the military-political leadership of Britain), two more reserve SAS regiments: the 21st and 23rd, not visiting country borders in peacetime. In the interests of the 22nd regiment, there are: the Air Operations wing of the Special Operations Forces (air regiment), a special reconnaissance regiment, a support group, four SBS squadrons (small water vehicles) and the Saltsbury Center CBRN, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense.

WHAT ELSE IS INTERESTING

The salaries of the British military, of course, as elsewhere in the world, depend on their positions, rank, length of service and duty station. For example, an ordinary recruit can only count on 13 thousand pounds a year. A general in a high position, receives from 111 thousand pounds a year or more. The fighter re-entering the service in the 22nd regiment will be content with 25 thousand pounds (per year), his experienced fellow soldier, the last fire and water can receive more than 80 thousand and even about 100 thousand pounds per year, depending on the specialization, titles and tasks performed.

Each British soldier receives a 1/47 salary for each year of service in the retirement bank, and with career growth and an increase in the monetary allowance, a corresponding conversion is made. In addition, there is also a safety program that allows you to significantly increase the retirement benefits of a veteran. Pensions are also provided for injured and illnesses in the service. And the families of the dead military are paid, provided for by law, financial content.

On all it is clear that the military command of the United Kingdom does not place special hopes on its ground forces, but pays more attention to the Royal Navy, or rather its underwater component. In general, the armed forces of Great Britain are experiencing far from the best of times, and no defense minister can influence this circumstance. Even with the nuclear forces in mind, Britain does not look outside of NATO as a powerful enough military unit to confront Russia or China alone.

Former UK Chancellor Philip Hammond becomes advisor to Saudi government

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/philip-hammond-becomes-saudi-advisor

UK’s Military Budget to Balloon to Highest Levels Since Cold War Amid ‘Perilous Global Situation’

Britain already holds the number two spot among NATO countries’ total defence outlays, spending between 2.1 and 2.85 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product on the military, in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s demand that all alliance members devote at least 2 percent of their GDP to defence.

The UK will beef up defence spending by nearly 10 percent over the next four years, with more than £16.5 billion ($21.9 billion) to be invested, and outlays directed to upgrading the country’s ‘outdated’ equipment and improving its next-generation capabilities, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said.

https://sputniknews.com/military/202011191081211747-uks-military-budget-to-balloon-to-highest-levels-since-cold-war-amid-perilous-global-situation/

Integrated review now out

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/969402/The_Integrated_Review_of_Security__Defence__Development_and_Foreign_Policy.pdf

Prospects for the military construction of Great Britain

March 24th, 11:52
On March 16, 2021, the UK Department of Defense published an official unified defense and security review, this time titled "Defense Command Paper" and entitled "Defense in a Competitive Age" ") , containing a statement of the goals, objectives and main directions of British military development for the coming years ( document in PDF here ). New British aircraft carrier R 08 Queen Elizabeth in Loch Long on the west coast of Scotland, March 2021 (c) UK Department of Defense


The document puts Russia first among the threats to the UK, saying that “Russia continues to be the strongest nuclear, conventional military and sub-threshold threat to European security. make Russia a powerful and unpredictable actor. " The second most important threat is the "rise in the power of China."

In general, the document actually continues the line of recent decades to further reduce the size and potential of the British armed forces with the redirection of resources for the technical modernization of all types of armed forces and the creation of advanced weapons systems.

It is stated that in the next four years the government plans to spend a total of 188 billion pounds on the needs of the defense of Great Britain, which will give an increase of 24 billion pounds over the previous four years. Including more than 6.6 billion pounds over the next four years is planned to be spent on defense R&D.

In general, the following main specific measures and plans for the military construction of Great Britain, proposed in the document, can be distinguished by types of armed forces.


Ground troops

- The staffing of the UK ground forces will be reduced from the current 82,000 people (actual - 76,000 people) to 72,500 people by 2025, without any changes in the number of reserve components.

- Of the currently available 225 Challenger 2 main tanks will be removed from service 77 cars, while the remaining 148 will be upgraded to version Challenger III

- Planned modernization of BMP Warrior will be canceled, and since the mid 2020s these BMP will be decommissioned and replaced by BTR Boxer.

- £ 250 million will be allocated for the purchase of GMLRS guided missiles.

- £ 800 million will be allocated for the purchase of new automated firing platforms [155-mm self-propelled howitzers].

- The infantry will be reorganized into four new "administrative" divisions.

- A new Ranger Regiment will be formed with four battalions (to be formed from the Royal Scottish Border Guards; 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of the Princess of Wales; 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster; and 4th Battalion Riflemen). The new regiment will be part of the newly formed Army Special Operations Brigade.

- A new Global Readiness Force will be formed, consisting of the newly formed 1st Combat Aviation Brigade and the 16th Air Assault Brigade, the last of which will be reinforced by another infantry battalion.

- The ground forces will be reorganized into seven self-sufficient brigade battle groups (Brigade Combat Teams - BCT) - two heavy, two light, one shock (Deep Strike - [on Ajax vehicles]), one air assault and one army aviation.

- The 1st and 2nd battalions of the Mercian regiment will be united.

- A Security Force Assistance Brigade will be formed to provide assistance and training to partner countries.

- Increased staffs in the areas of electronic warfare, air defense and unmanned aerial vehicles.

- 23 Gazelle helicopters, 20 Puma helicopters and 5 Bell 212 helicopters will be replaced by a new medium transport helicopter.


Air Force

- £ 2 billion will be invested over the next four years in the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program, along with the further development of the Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft unmanned strike system (LANCA UCAV).

- The UK pledges to expand its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35B fighters to "more than 48 aircraft."

- By 2025, 24 Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1 series fighters

will be removed from service. - All 36 BAE Hawk T.1 combat trainers will be removed from service.

- Five aircraft AWACS and control Boeing E-3D Sentry will be replaced in 2023 with only three new aircraft AWACS and control Boeing E-7 Wedgetail (instead of five previously planned).

- In 2023, all 15 remaining Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules military transport aircraft will be phased out ahead of schedule.

- In 2022, all four BAE 146 passenger aircraft will be decommissioned.

- The nine oldest Boeing Chinook transport helicopters will be decommissioned, and several new Chinooks with increased flight range will be purchased in return.

- By 2024, the currently available nine General Atomics Reaper reconnaissance and strike UAVs will be replaced by 16 new General Atomics Protector UAVs.

- Great Britain will develop technologies for "swarm use" of combat UAVs.

- The remaining Eurofighter Typhoon fighters will receive new airborne radar systems with AFAR and will be equipped with Spear 3 small cruise missiles.


Navy

- Two frigates of type 23 ( Montrose and Monmouth - out of 13 in service) will be withdrawn from the fleet ahead of schedule, however, it is planned to restore the number of frigate forces with the construction of promising type 26 frigates and type 31 frigates.

- New Type 83 destroyers will be built to replace Type 45 destroyers in the late 2030s.

- Bay -class amphibious helicopter docks will be re-equipped for Littoral strike roles.

- Hunt and Sandown type minesweepers will be replaced by "autonomous mine ships".

- A new reconnaissance ship will be built, designed "to protect critical national infrastructure such as submarine cables."

- Patrol ship Trent (River type) will be permanently based in Gibraltar, while patrol ship Tamar will be permanently based in the Indo-Pacific region.

- Harpoon anti-ship missiles will be removed from service and replaced with a "transitional" model of anti-ship missile weapons.

- Type 45 destroyers will receive modernized anti-aircraft missile systems.

- The Marines will be converted to a Future Commando Force and will be focused on a "forward base".


Other

- 200 million pounds will be invested in increasing the potential of electronic warfare and electronic intelligence.

- 6.6 billion pounds will be spent on space programs in the next four years.

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4279450.html


Download full report here: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9181/CBP-9181.pdf

Western "experts" will tell us that the UK has a GDP nearly as large as that of Russia. But their military capabilities are only a fraction of that of Russia. Weird, isn´t it?