In response to a question from David Reed, Conservative MP for Exmouth and Exeter East, about improving the technological capabilities of combat brigades, the Ministry of Defence outlined its plans to modernise the British Army through significant investment and advanced systems.
Luke Pollard, Armed Forces Minister, provided details on the measures being implemented to ratchet up the British Army’s lethality, mobility, and protection.
Pollard described the initiative as part of a comprehensive effort to prepare the Army for modern conflicts. “The Army is currently undergoing a combined programme of work to ensure that our manoeuvre forces will have the lethality, protection, and mobility to fight and win against any adversary,” he said, as quoted in the recent update.
He explained that this modernisation will include billions of pounds of investment over the next decade, with future capability development guided by the forthcoming Strategic Defence Review. “Whilst the Army’s modernisation will continue over the next decade with a programme of investment worth billions of pounds, the future capability development priorities will be guided by the Strategic Defence Review,” Pollard said.
Pollard highlighted the new capabilities set to be integrated into Brigade Combat Teams, which will include the AJAX, BOXER, and Challenger 3 armoured vehicles. Air support will also play a crucial role, with the Joint Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability and Boeing AH-64E Apache helicopters forming part of the modernisation efforts. He added, “In the longer term, the Army will experiment with multiplying crewed aviation mass and lethality whilst enhancing its survivability through Launched Effects.”
The minister also stressed that the Army’s strength lies in its personnel as much as its platforms. “The strength of the British Army comes not just from its platforms and capabilities, but from its people, and the new Government is working to address challenges in recruitment we inherited,” Pollard said.
He hinted at forthcoming measures to tackle recruitment challenges, stating, “We have made some announcements on this area and plan to make further announcements in due course.”
At the UK Defence Journal, we aim to deliver accurate and timely news on defence matters. We rely on the support of readers like you to maintain our independence and high-quality journalism. Please consider making a one-off donation to help us continue our work. Click here to donate. Thank you for your support!
He added, “In the longer term, the Army will experiment with multiplying crewed aviation mass and lethality whilst enhancing its survivability through Launched Effects.”
I read that at face value or it has an entirely different meaning?
I guess there are no more plain awards to be had!
Should that read uncrewed?
What more crewed aviation could the Army want?
He’s saying they will multiply the mass and lethality of AAC’s crewed aviation (Apaches, Wildcats and the like) by adding uncrewed stuff.
Launched Effects is US Army speak. Our own military, who I thought had already taken incomprehensibility to its highest limits, are learning yet more ways to frazzle English from our transatlantic cousins. Originally, Air Launched Effects (ALE) referred to UAVs and loitering munitions launched from aircraft. The category expanded to include ground-launched stuff, hence just Launched Effects (LE).
A big problem in saying all this is all our potential adversaries will do exactly the same, probably more of it, and probably sooner!! Hope the powers that be don’t forget the real stuff that’s needed and not just the latest toys.
Drones .
Loitering munitions?
So no change then..
Lions led by donkeys as usual, ‘Brigade combat teams’ wouldn’t that constitute a ‘Divisional battle group ?’ you may think I Don’t know wtf I’m talking about, but in my defence neither do the M.O.D. !!! and who’s Luke Pollard, would that be Sue’s brother ?
Any ideas like these always bring Tennyson to mind.
Drones to the left of them, Drones to the right.
Onward rode the Bct’s
Ours is not to reason why, Ours is but to do or die.
Please forgive my scepticism and educate me on what they’re up to. 🤷
Ajax is a complete dead duck……..whoever made those decisions should lose their gold plated pension!
Why do you think Ajax is a dead duck?
Good morning Graham, talking of Ajax i think you mentioned in another post that the Army might be looking at a turreted Ares for an IFV? I guess that’s more or less the Ascod 2? Sounds too sensible. And the Overwatch, Mortar launch, possibly Ajax based or more Boxer or a mix?
From Jane’s: The UK plans to procure more modules than chassis for the next batches of Boxer armoured vehicle procurement, British Army officers said on the last day of SAE Media Group’s Future Armoured Vehicles Survivability (FAVS) 2024 conference held in London from 11 to 13 November. The next batches will be specialised versions of Boxer: Repair & Recovery, Armoured Mortar, Close Support Bridging, Mobile Fires Platform (MFP), Short Range Air Defence (SHORAD), Serpens Deep Find Radar (DFR), and Mounted Close Combat Overwatch (MCCO). SHORAD Boxers include Command and Control, Forward Repair Team, Active Sensor, Counter-Small Aerial Targets (C-SAT), and… Read more »
British Army Major Mark Lewis, Senior Officer 2 (SO2) Boxer Futures, outlined “areas of interest” for upgrading the vehicle’s survivability on the last day of SAE Media Group’s Future Armoured Vehicles Survivability (FAVS) 2024 conference held in London from 11 to 13 November. Those areas include human-machine interface (HMI), active protection systems (APSs) composite armour, and using uncrewed systems with Boxer. The latter would use Boxer as a mother ship for uncrewed air and ground vehicles, with the possibility of the armoured vehicle also being unmanned. HMI could be used to improve the employment of the Boxer’s fire-control system and… Read more »
That’s quite a list. We’ll have to leave all this to the experts. Just hope for UK 🇬🇧 lads sake they get the tracked and wheeled balance right for the battlefield. I’d put tracked in first, wheeled second. With sensible up-arming. What’s working and what’s not working in Ukraine must be quite eye opening as well as horrific. I, we sure hope, that Ukraine has the means and will to push the Russian forces out of its territory in the near future. Strength to 🇺🇦 ! Strength to 🇬🇧 and the democratic world!
The RS6 is interesting, as that would be a major upgrade in firepower.
Matches with what they recently said about trying different turrets on Boxer.
Thanks Sam.