Gurkhas have demonstrated the firepower they can bring to bear as part of the rapid reaction force, say the British Army.
In a news release, the British Army say that the 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles’ Anti-Tank Platoon opened fire with Javelin and Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon (NLAW) missiles on a wind-swept Salisbury Plain as the culmination of a training package for soldiers joining the platoon.
“The two high-tech weapon systems are intended to give infantry on the ground the capability to destroy tanks and lightly armoured vehicles, but also provide an all-weather, day or night capability against fixed positions such as bunkers and buildings.
Javelin and NLAW are the most potent and precise weapons carried by 1RGR in their current role as lead infantry battlegroup in the Air Assault Task Force, which is held ready to deploy anywhere in the world at short notice to conduct the full range of military operations.”
According to the British Army website, all Gurkha soldiers are recruited in Nepal.
The Royal Gurkha Rifles currently have a jungle role Battalion permanently based in Brunei and a Light Role Battalion in the UK as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade.
All Officers are expected to speak Nepali and will attend a language course in Nepal. The Gurkhas have only been eligible for the Victoria Cross since 1911. During this time 26 have been awarded, 13 to British Officers and 13 to Gurkha Soldiers.
A Gurkha sergeant taught me morse code in Hong Kong 1965,very good teacher and very patient with us squaddies. Good soldiers and very loyal as well.
I worked alongside a Gurkha wireless op in Brunei. He was much faster than me but worked in his own language so I couldn’t read a thing he sent!
My grandad was with the Gurkhas in Burma during the war. I still have his kukri.
And the army have slowly realised their total fuck up on reductions, and, are actively recruiting more than 600 ex Ghurkas, Sigs and Logistics. They are even willing to accept the lads who have taken redundancy, let them keep the cash and join back up. It’s a start, but the army needs to do more and get the organisation back to fighting capacity. And on average they recruit only about 200 per year from Nepal, and it’s still seen as a top job, lots of respect and an honourable family trade. Oh and to stick to the story, NLAW is… Read more »
Yes mate, extra squadrons being formed in the RS, RLC, and I think the RE too.
Personally I’ve always wanted a stand alone Brigade of Gurkha’s alongside 16AA and 3 Cdo but I know that is fantasy fleets somewhat.
Most of the bits are already there, just need a 3rd Battalion, their own fire support, RA, and so on.
it seems crazy that with well stated recruitment/retention issues, we have cut back on the Nepalese, especially when they are such fine troops
Let’s hope they filter some guys through to the existing units too. Some pretty shocking personnel issues in the ranks at the moment.
It’s crazy how India recruits hundreds of thousands of Gurkhas! We don’t need that many unless a world war breaks out but a Brigade sounds good hell a division sounds better.
Their Gurkhas are not nearly the same as capable or high quality as ours, they’re just bog standard troops with poor Indian training
The current Brigade of Gurkhas is an admin formation only. My wish was for a deployable formation with all the elan, history, and elite status that the RM and the Parachute Regiment rightly have already.
When India got independence most Gurkha Regiments became a part of the Indian Army, which is why they have many. Our Regiments were gradually disbanded, leaving the 2 Battalions of RGR we have today, plus several squadrons of RE, RLC, RS, and the demonstration companies at RMAS and Brecon.
From what I have read, civil servants are blocking expansion of the Gurkhas in order to get an army that reflects today’s diverse Britain; what nonsense. We should be recruiting as many Gurkhas as possible.
Yeah India has hundreds of thousands of Gurkhas…