The British Army is to receive a ballistic missile capability with a range of around 500 miles under the Defence Investment Plan, the UK Defence Journal understands.
A defence official said additional money is going into the Army’s recce strike concept, covering lethality, basic and advanced drones, electronic warfare, improved networks and long-range fires. “We want to bring in ballistic missile capability for the army over that key sort of 500 mile range,” the official said, adding that the investment would put Project Asgard, the Army’s deep-strike targeting effort, on a firmer footing and increase the ability to conduct corps-level activities.
Ballistic missiles are powered during an initial boost phase before following an arcing trajectory to the target, descending at very high speed in the terminal phase. That flight profile gives short reaction times to defenders and makes interception considerably harder than engaging slower, air-breathing cruise missiles, which is one reason such weapons have featured heavily in the war in Ukraine on both sides, from Russian Iskander strikes to Ukrainian use of Western-supplied ATACMS.
A land-based weapon reaching around 800 kilometres would allow the Army to strike targets deep in an adversary’s rear, including headquarters, logistics hubs and airfields, from launchers positioned well behind the front line.
A weapon of that range would exceed any system currently fielded by the Royal Artillery. The longest-ranged in-service system is the M270 multiple launch rocket system, which fires guided rockets out to around 150 kilometres in its extended-range configuration.
The official said the changes made to the plan in its final weeks put more early money into army deep fires, uncrewed land vehicles and tactical drones, and that the department is “more comfortable than we were even two weeks ago” with the balance of the package as a result.
The plan injects an increase into the lethality of the front line, especially in long-range precision strike, “far sooner than we were previously planning to do,” according to the official, who said this is what NATO wants of the UK and what the United States wants Europe to deliver, sending a deterrent signal to potential adversaries.
Sensible plan👍
Good news and about time. In regards to the Army and in particular the RA, I hope the MOD will consider adding the tracked LORAS as this would also allow for long-range strike as well as ‘Shoot & scoot’.
Good stuff.
Now, who operates it? And in what quantity in the ORBAT?
All the Regiments are committed.
No manpower expansion till the mid 30s according to the MoD with an “aspiration” to add 3k to the Army, so maybe in that time frame? As where are the personnel to form additional Batteries otherwise.
The KGA has formed and will eventually expand to 4 Batteries, spilt amongst existing Gun Regiments, so that provides up to 4 Batteries of extra people, yet 39 Royal Artillery has reformed as a third MLRS Regiment. Maybe a Troop each Battery?
Cannot see this being more than a niche capability in individual Troops otherwise??
I suspect one MLRs Regt each to 1 Div, 3 Div and the ARRC – with the latter focusing on this 500-mile capability (shorter range focus at the Div level).
No suspicion needed, it’s confirmed that each will have an MLRS Regiment.
26RA, 3 Division, 3 DRSB.
3 RHA, 1 Division, 1 DRSB.
39RA, ARRC, 9 DRSB.
My issue is when you look at their internal Batteries.
Each with 2 MLRS Batteries. Plus MLRS Deep Fires is to expand to 61, so more bodies needed.
Exactior is in there somewhere as well.
More Batteries needed, UNLESS, this is used in a very small capacity despite the usual grandstanding accompanying it.
I hope to learn of additional Batteries forming, again, you need bodies, and the Army cannot magic people up without cutting elsewhere with no personnel uplifts.
Interesting idea with this only with the ARRC assigned formation though, makes sense, very much a Corps level asset! 👍
Cheers Daniele. I read somewhere that Exactor has been withdrawn from service. If that’s the case, that will have freed up a few personnel for other duties.
Hmmmm……
I’d not heard that, interesting.
And a bloody shame as well.
To be honest mate I would image any ballistic missile is going to be small numbers silver bullets used to gain an advantage or to take advantage of a specific situation.. you see an opportunity to manoeuvre, so you interdict the command and control with your ballistics.. or you have made a successful manoeuvre and you use your ballistics to shut down and interdict a response.. it’s not going to be a use every day shaping capability.. just to expensive… drones can do that.
Yes, but, you also talked of the need to keep hurting the enemy, regards the 7000 “long tange missiles” rhetoric from HMG ( that is probably including all sorts ) so that seems at odds with that comment.
It can be both if we buy enough.
If we are doing that long term in industrial war, you need assets, you need depth.
Your comment here makes it just sound now like a silver bullet, like the F117A was for the USAF.
Oops, re read, see you too quoted Silver Bullets.
Drones, Effectors, Enablers…. whatever next 🤔
How about “Influencers” ?
They have them already in 77th Brigade since around 2021.
👍 😁
Isn’t this just PrSM that we’ve been planning to buy for years?
Jolly good. Great way to kneecap the Russian army taking out the logistics hubs given their famously poor organisation
Sounds good. It would also benefit if it could be fitted with a tactical nuclear warhead – we need to be less dependent on the US and this is one area non-US NATO is badly deficient.
Having some short range ballistic missiles will be good.. but for me this is as much about sovereign capability.. the UK can already build the hardest part of medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles, that’s the extra atmospheric and re entry vehicle for the warhead… so If we can design and build a short range ballistic missile it’s not a big step up to a medium or intermediate range missile.. especially as we also now have a multi stage orbital booster industry as well with Skyrora XL.
This will mean the UK has everything in place for development of a sovereign medium or intermediate range ballistic missile that could put a 300km warhead into Russia.