The UK’s extensive military support for Ukraine, particularly through Operation Interflex, has significantly impacted the ability of the British Army and other UK forces to maintain their own training programmes.
A recent report by the National Audit Office (NAO) reveals that training Ukrainian troops has reduced the availability of training sites for UK armed forces, with British Army units now finding it much more difficult to secure time at these sites.
According to the report, Army units had their bids for training sites rejected at eight times the rate in 2023 compared to 2019, a “normal” year before the Ukraine war and the pandemic.
Operation Interflex, which has trained 42,050 Ukrainian recruits as of July 2024, occupies more than a quarter of the British Army’s training estate. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has acknowledged the impact on UK forces, noting that “Interflex will constrain the British Army’s capability to train its own soldiers on its training sites.”
The report adds that there is no monitoring of whether units that have had their bids rejected are able to rebook training sessions, further complicating the situation for British troops needing essential training time.
This strain has also extended to the Royal Marines. The NAO report highlights that Operation Interforge, a specialist programme for training Ukrainian marine forces, was moved to the Netherlands in February 2024. The MoD explained that the continued use of UK training facilities for Interflex was “threatening to compromise the Royal Marines’ own training needs.” As a result, the decision was made to relocate the programme to the Netherlands, where a small team of UK personnel was sent to assist Dutch trainers in delivering the necessary marine training for Ukrainian forces.
As the conflict in Ukraine continues and the demand for support grows, the UK will need to balance its ongoing commitment to Ukraine with maintaining its own military capabilities. The report makes clear that as the MoD plans future support for Ukraine, it “must continue to balance Ukraine’s needs and the UK’s strategic interests with the need to maintain the UK’s own military capabilities, through maintaining stocks of equipment and sufficient training provision for UK forces.”
Despite these challenges, the MoD say it remains committed to training Ukrainian personnel, with Operation Interflex expected to continue through 2024, supported by international partners and the Army Reserve to help mitigate the impact on UK forces.
If we want to properly support Ukraine in fighting a major war then the burden on our resources is similar to being on a war footing ourselves. Clearly the Treasury doesn’t want to face that reality, and the negative impact on our own capabilities is simply a reflection of that fact.
I agree.
We have trained to rapidly generate a larger force…in my view useful training…
There are differences. If we are on a war footing ourselves the regular army will be deployed on a two way range, so the Regulars (and AR’s) will have less need to book onto Ranges and Training Areas. So in terms of training areas, it’s not so much of an issue if we went to war.
The only potential issue I see is from an environmental standpoint. For years people complained about the amount of area under MOD control, and the limited access this allowed to rambles etc. The plus side was always that, limited access to the public and perhaps only a few visits for training a year, meant that the wildlife and environment thrived. Little to no disturbance to ground nesting birds, habit allowed to grow without the influence or effects of pesticides etc etc. The fact that the army has got smaller and we are constantly back in Europe exercising or on Ops… Read more »
Totally agree on the environmental aspects of the DTE, Defence Training Estate.
My opinion, I think the public can go and ramble somewhere else. And I like rambling myself.
They have a whole country to go play in, leave the military alone to train. They don’t need to access MoD land. Much of it is accessible as you say for limited periods, there are only a few areas permanently closed, for very good reasons.
I disagree, people should have the right to roam, and frankly, the armed forces need to be comfortable training in enviornments where civilians can be present. If anything I’d be happy to further blur the distinction between publicly accessible land and training areas more.
Happy to agree to disagree mate. 👍
Well we used to share the North German plain with civilians
😀
While you were flattening hedges in front gardens and that sort of lark when out in exercise?
I’ve seen the footage. 😀
We still do the same in Estonia.
Amazing to me that the public seem to think they should have near-unlimited access to MoD training areas for them to ramble! MoD’s training areas in the UK are really not that big, especially for conducting mechanised/armoured warfare, nor are there ‘too many’. Many ranges and training areas with spare slots are very considerable distances from the military personnel that want to use them. There are a lot of users of MoD training areas these days including Border Force and the Ukrainians. When I was an Adult Volunteer with the ACF, 2 years out of 5 our summer camp booking… Read more »
Down your way, Crowborough Camp. Also has Sussex Police using the old RSG bunker there.
Although our Armed forces are doing a great job training the Ukrainians the infrastructure to do our men and women has well it’s bound to be a strain .And the Tory government wanted conscription 🙄
I think anyone who has been training in the last 2 years could’ve told you this for free.
Good morning