British Army News and Discussion

[OldTex]

It is being reported that the British Army will be buying the RCH155 wheeled artillery to be co-developed by Germany and UK. While it is still early days, one question will be whether AS90 will be retained only for armoured brigades. The other question is how quickly will the interim buy of 14 Archer SPHs be retired.

 

[Big_Zucchini]

Wheels for SPH, tracks for MRL. That's real something.

 

[swerve]

News - Watchkeeper UAV to retire

A classic sad story of British military procurement. Buy an existing product, then spend a fortune & many years modifying it before finally putting it into service, by which time it looks distinctly old-fashioned & only lasts a few years in service.

And everything requires new facilities! Often, a new factory for the new product, & the training of a new workforce.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

News - Watchkeeper UAV to retire

A classic sad story of British military procurement. Buy an existing product, then spend a fortune & many years modifying it before finally putting it into service, by which time it looks distinctly old-fashioned & only lasts a few years in service.

And everything requires new facilities! Often, a new factory for the new product, & the training of a new workforce.

|"It is one of several platforms that are being sunset early to save money ahead of the UK's upcoming Strategic Defense Review."|

And they claim this is all to save money....

 

[StobieWan]

News - Watchkeeper UAV to retire

A classic sad story of British military procurement. Buy an existing product, then spend a fortune & many years modifying it before finally putting it into service, by which time it looks distinctly old-fashioned & only lasts a few years in service.

And everything requires new facilities! Often, a new factory for the new product, & the training of a new workforce.

We really do need to let go of that special snowflake feeling that seems to overcome purchasing so often and just buy something that works as nearly off the shelf as possible. Stuff like Ajax and Boxer flip flop really do stick in my craw, as it were.

 

[swerve]

Yeah. We should have bought Boxer from the start. Quitting the programme, faffing around with other types, then rejoining, cost a bloody fortune.

 

[koxinga]

So Starmer offers troops on the ground

Most of what I read online suggest the British Army does not have the numbers needed to sustain a presence (with rotation) for long duration.

Starmer 'ready' to put UK troops on ground in Ukraine to protect peace

Sir Keir Starmer said securing a lasting peace in Ukraine was "essential" to deter Vladimir Putin from future aggression.

www.bbc.com

The state we are in - British Army decline

Here's one contentious view of the state of the British Army decline. Do you agree? Were things really better in the past?

wavellroom.com

 

[John Fedup]

So Starmer offers troops on the ground

Most of what I read online suggest the British Army does not have the numbers needed to sustain a presence (with rotation) for long duration.

Starmer 'ready' to put UK troops on ground in Ukraine to protect peace

Sir Keir Starmer said securing a lasting peace in Ukraine was "essential" to deter Vladimir Putin from future aggression.

www.bbc.com

The state we are in - British Army decline

Here's one contentious view of the state of the British Army decline. Do you agree? Were things really better in the past?

wavellroom.com

The British army isn't alone wrt this problem. Canada certainly has!

 

[StobieWan]

The UK maintained a force of around 10,000 at longer distances over an air bridge in Afghanistan - and we're just talking a trip-wire force in Ukraine - not conducting daily COIN and force protection for example.

Stick a few thousand French and UK troops in there and Russia is facing two nuclear armed nations with the capability to escalate conventionally in ways Russia can't cope with.

If we can get everyone to stop shooting each other, it's doable.