The 1st Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment (1 R IRISH), has taken part in an exercise named Exercise Pegasus Clover at RAF Shawbury to refine their air landing competencies with the A400M transport aircraft.
The exercise was geared towards equipping troops with the skills necessary for rapid deployment and operational readiness as part of their role within 16 Air Assault Brigade.
During the exercise, troops from 1 R IRISH were involved in loading and securing Land Rovers and Jackal patrol vehicles onto the aircraft, followed by practice drills focussed on swift disembarkation and readiness for immediate action upon landing.
Major Matt Hazlett, Officer Commanding C (Ranger) Company, emphasised the critical importance of mobility in their operational strategy. He remarked in a press release, “We must have the mobility to get our troops and vehicles anywhere in the world by air, to then use our mobility on the ground to achieve the mission.”
He further outlined their operational tactics, stating, “On an operation, we would be the first troops mounted in vehicles to arrive on an airfield that has been captured by a parachute or helicopter assault. Our role is to then push out to secure and expand that foothold.”
The reintegration of 1 R IRISH into the 16 Air Assault Brigade in 2021 is part of the broader Future Soldier vision, which seeks to transform the Army into a force characterised by greater agility, lethality, and expeditionary capabilities.
In short, it’s time to focus on building a decent land-based deterrent.British Army ‘may have no choice’ but to enlist citizens as country ‘not ready’ for Russian threat, says former colonel “A former colonel in the British Army says the country may have to opt for conscription in the event of a conflict with Russia and claimed the military’s recruiting system has “failed miserably”. “I think what we have to do is to wake up and realise that… Ukrainians are fighting for their liberty through the illegal invasion from Russia and if they do not win that, we are next.… Read more »
When would we ever plan to fight Russia without conscription.
National service will fix it.
Sadly I cannot post the actual link anymore, This option should be reinstated on UKDJ
House Of Commons Library
A brief guide to previous British
defence reviews
This paper is a short guide to the main recommendations of the defence
reviews that have taken place since the end of the Second World War.
1 Initially focused on defence and the armed forces, over the decades these
reviews have broadened to include security, foreign and development policy.
researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7313/CBP-7313.pdf
https://
I fear that if the Americans fail to maintain the level of materiel and financial support it has been, then this could happen sooner rather than later. Even with EU and British political will, I don’t think we could fill the gap and direct involvement may be unavoidable.
Called Spearhead back in the day! Just reinventing the wheel,had more than one crash out to Brize Norton and give the loadies on Hercs heart attacks as we loaded vehicle😂
Should have said Lyneham not Brize🙄
Pretty sure that in the past the Uk had a fast reaction force which did all of the above. But its ACE to see them reinventing the wheel. (Just for the info, my first posting 24 Field squadron RE, was part of 6 Field Force and as such we were prepared to be deployed at a moments notice which is why all our kit was packed ready to go in air portable boxes , were I learnt that sleeping on top of your packed kit on a Herc can be really comfy and we weren’t even AMF)
Late 90s, the JRDF. The “Defending the Realm” tv series had a great episode on them focusing on Pathfinder Platoon.
“Spearhead lead elements” still exist today from various corps.
Back in the 70s we were labelled Strategic Reserve if you were in an UK unit. As your turn came around for Spearhead we had to prepare our vehicles for air loading and pack everything for a no notice move. At 22 RE it usually went from one SQN to the next until the next Regt was tasked.
on one occasion we actually got to the end of the runway with all engines running before we were stood down😀
I seem to remember that from 1968 to 1975 the whole of 3 Div in the UK was called the Strategic Reserve.
I love that last sentence….agility, lethality, yep, all the key words there. Meanwhile, while 16AA may have gained a 4th manoeuvre Battalion, which it once had anyway, some robotic dogs, and a few resuscitated CSS sub units, it’s the same Brigade as before FS, only with less aircraft to actually deploy it. And they had a Sqn of the HCR with armour too at one time. On the lethality side, the UAV Battery, LMM Battery, and Light Guns remain, so where is the greater lethality? FPV Drones? Brimstone? 155mm? Dedicated aviation assets? Assume they at least have Switchblade? But all’s… Read more »
I was enjoying all the glossy language and tag lines Daniele, now I’m being told it’s all just PR smoke and mirrors, I don’t know what to believe anymore!!😂
So tell me, arn’t we supposed to have a full deployable and battle ready Division available by next year, have they moved the goal posts again I wonder and made a division brigade sized yet, nice simple PR fix.
Everything moves to the left and we can muster numerous Divisions, Brigades and Battalions, it will look great on paper!
Divisions with 2 Bdes rather than 3, and some battalions that I believe are barely larger than a few hundred posts.
Re-working, re-jigging and re-branding. Nothing new here. Another attempt to have the more feeble minded that all is well with the Army.
Inaccurate report, the soldiers had nothing to to with locating and restraining the vehicles. At best they would have driven the vehicles while being marshalled by RAF Movers from 1 Air Mobility Wing who would have restrained the vehicles, flown with the aircraft and removed the restraint whilst under ERO (engine running offload) conditions.