Defence in a Competitive Age

Last updated January 05, 2023

Defence in a Competitive Age^[1] is a Ministry of Defence command paper which was released on 22 March 2021. It provided details on changes to the armed forces to meet the requirements of the Integrated Review which was published before it on 16 March 2021.

Royal Navy

HMS Trent, a Batch 2 River-class patrol vessel, will be permanently based in Gibraltar,^[2] and HMS Tamar and HMS Spey will both be permanently based in the Indo-Pacific.^[3]
A new Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship will be acquired, tasked to deal with protecting critical national infrastructure, such as undersea cables.^[4]^[5]
Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessels and Sandown-class minehunters will be replaced by autonomous minehunting systems.^[5]
Two Littoral Response Groups will be formed — one based in the North Atlantic, and another in the Indo-Pacific.^[5]
The Type 83 destroyer will be developed to replace the Type 45 destroyers in the late 2030s.^[6]
Two Type 23 frigates will be retired early, before an increase in numbers with the introduction of the Type 26 frigate, Type 31 frigate and Type 32 frigate.^[1]
The Type 45 destroyer will receive upgraded air defence weapons.^[5]
The "next generation of subsea systems" to replace the Astute-class fleet submarines will be developed and enter service in the 2040s.^[5]

British Army

The British Army will be reduced in establishment, to 72,500 regular personnel by 2025, with no change in reserves.^[7] This was later changed to 73,000 — an increase of 500 personnel — in November 2021.^[8]
Deploying army forces will be reorganised into five new 'brigade combat teams':^[9]
- one 'Deep Recce Strike' (with the Ajax armoured vehicle)
- two 'Heavy' (equipped with Challenger 3 tank and Boxer armoured fighting vehicle)
- two 'Light', one consisting of light cavalry (utilising Jackal light vehicles) and Light Mechanised Infantry (Foxhound armoured cars), and one consisting of light cavalry and light infantry.
79 Challenger 2 main battle tanks will be retired, with the remaining 148 upgraded to Challenger 3.^[7]
The planned Warrior upgrade will be cancelled, and instead the vehicles will be retired upon the introduction of Boxer in the mid-2020s.^[10]
£800 million will be invested in a new automated fires platform.^[11]
£250 million will be invested in Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS).^[11]
The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Mercian Regiment will be amalgamated when the Boxer enters service as the 1st Battalion.^[11]^[7]
New Combat Service Support Battalions will be formed, grouping the Royal Logistic Corps, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, and Royal Army Medical Corps.^[11] Two new battalions will be formed by 2023 as part of the new Strike Brigade concept. This decision had previously been announced with 1st Close Support Battalion, REME and 1st Regiment RLC paving the way.^[12]
New tactical surveillance drones, and new electronic warfare and cyberspace capabilities will be brought into service.
Manning will increase in the areas of electronic warfare, air defence, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)^[11]
The Infantry will be restructured into four new divisions.^[13]
A new Global Readiness Force will be formed, consisting of the newly formed 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, and 16th Air Assault Brigade, the latter of which will be reinforced by a further infantry battalion. These forces will become known as the Army's 'Air Manoeuvre Forces'.^[9]
A new four-battalion Ranger Regiment will be formed in August 2021,^[11] seeded from the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland; 2nd Battalion, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment; 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment; and 4th Battalion, The Rifles.^[14] The new regiment will sit within the redesignated Specialised Infantry Group, becoming the Army Special Operations Brigade.^[11]^[15]^[16]
A Security Force Assistance Brigade will be formed to assist and train partner nations.^[11] The 11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East would be redesignated as such in due course.^[16]

Royal Air Force

£2 billion will be invested in the Future Combat Air System over the next four years.^[1]
The Boeing 737 AEW&C "Wedgetail" order will be reduced from five to three.^[5]
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules fleet will be retired by 2023.^[5]
The order of 48 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II will be increased.^[1] However, the 2015 commitment to procure 138 F-35s is not referred to.^[17] On 23 March, the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff estimated that the final fleet will total between 60 and 80 aircraft.^[18]
16 Protector UAVs will replace the current 9 Reapers. ^[1]
All Tranche 1 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters will be retired by 2025. The remaining Typhoons will be upgraded.^[1]
The Hawk T1 aircraft will be retired by 2025.^[1]

Other

£200 million will be invested over 10 years to deliver an 'enhanced electronic warfare and signal intelligence capability'. Further manning will increase with the area of collection and exploitation of signal intelligence.^[11]
£6.6 billion will be invested into space over the next 4 years.^[5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Armoured Corps</span> Armour arm of the British Army

The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the Army's armoured regiments, both the Royal Tank Regiment and those converted from old horse cavalry regiments. Today it comprises twelve regiments, eight regular and four reserve. Although the Household Cavalry Regiment provide an armoured regiment, they are not part of the RAC.

The Infantry of the British Army comprises 49 infantry battalions, from 19 regiments. Of these, 33 battalions are part of the Regular army and the remaining 16 a part of the Army Reserve. The British Army's Infantry takes on a variety of roles, including armoured, mechanised, air assault and light.

160th (Welsh) Brigade or Brigâd 160 (Cymru), is a regional brigade of the British Army that has been in existence since 1908, and saw service during both the First and the Second World Wars, as part of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division. It is a regional command responsible for all of Wales. The Brigade is also regionally aligned with the Eastern European and Central Asian regions as part of defence engagement.

The South Alberta Light Horse (SALH) is a Canadian Army armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Canadian Army Reserve. It traces its complicated lineage to the Rocky Mountain Rangers, and claims its direct ancestry to the 15th Light Horse, along with various other Alberta based cavalry units. The "Light Horse" designation comes from its light cavalry and mounted infantry origins.

The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled Delivering Security in a Changing World, set out the future structure of the British military, and was preceded by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the 2002 SDR New Chapter, which responded to the immediate challenges to security in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Published under the then Secretary of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon, the report effectively introduced a series of cutbacks to core equipment and manpower and the scaling back of a series of future capital procurement projects. This was justified due to the implementation of a policy termed Network Enabled Capability. The review also outlined a major restructuring and consolidation of British Army Infantry regiments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belgian Land Component</span> Military unit

The Land Component is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard.

The Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY) was a British Yeomanry regiment. In 1967 it was amalgamated with other units to form the Royal Yeomanry (RY), a light cavalry regiment of the Army Reserve. Originally raised as the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1794, the regiment was used on several occasions in the 19th Century to maintain law and order. During the Second Boer War and both World Wars the regiment earned 44 battle honours. It is now one of the six squadrons of the Royal Yeomanry (RY), a light cavalry regiment of the Army Reserve. Designated as 'A' Squadron, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry's current role is to support the Light Cavalry Regiments on operations by providing reconnaissance soldiers.

The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light Division. Since formation the regiment has been involved in combat operations, first in the later stages of the Iraq War and in the War in Afghanistan.

The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day.

The 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team is a formation in the British Army with a direct lineage to 7th Armoured Brigade and a history that stretches back to the Napoleonic Wars. It saw active service in the Crimean War, the Second Boer War and both the First and the Second World Wars. In 2014, the 7th Armoured Brigade was re-designated as 7th Infantry Brigade, thereby ensuring that the famed "Desert Rats" continue in the British Army's Order of battle.

The 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army with a long history including service during both the First and the Second World Wars. It was based at Tidworth Camp. Previously, it has been designated 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Infantry Brigade, 1st Mechanised Brigade, and under the initial Army 2020 reforms assumed the title of 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade. Under the Future Soldier programme, the brigade merged with the 1st Artillery Brigade to form the 1st Deep Recce Strike Brigade Combat Team.

4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East, previously known as 4th Mechanized Brigade and before that 4th Armoured Brigade is a brigade formation of the British Army, currently based in Catterick, North Yorkshire as part of 1st Division. The brigade, now known as the 'Black Rats', was formed in 1939 and fought in the Second World War in the Western Desert Campaign in North Africa. The Black Rats were subsequently involved in the invasion of Sicily and fighting in Italy before taking part in the Battle of Normandy and the advance through Belgium, Holland and into Germany.

The British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve was a joint military force of the British, Australian, and New Zealand armed forces. Created in the 1950s and based in Malaya, the FESR was conceived as a forward defence point for Australia and New Zealand, while protecting Commonwealth interests in the Southeast Asian region from both internal and external communist threats. The FESR was made up of an infantry brigade and an aircraft carrier group, supported by squadrons of aircraft.

The 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade is a brigade of the British Army which is intended to train and assist foreign forces. In 2021, under the Future Army changes, the brigade was redesignated, formerly being the 11th Infantry Brigade & HQ South East. Prior to the Army 2020 changes in 2013, the brigade was temporarily activated for deployment to Afghanistan, and before that engaged during the two World Wars.

Armoured regiments are units provided by the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army.

Army 2020, was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7 South African Infantry Division</span> Military unit

7 South African Infantry Division was a formation of the South African Army, active from the 1960s to 1999.

The structure of the British Army is being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure. The Army is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff (CGS), with Army Headquarters which is located in Andover, Hampshire. Subordinate to that post, there is a Commander Field Army, and a personnel and UK operations command, Home Command.

Future Soldier is a reform of the British Army resulting from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021. The aim of the reform is to create a more lethal, agile and expeditionary force, able to fight and win wars and to operate in the grey-zone between peace and war. Future Soldier was published on 25 November 2021 and deals with the organizational changes of the British Army, with changes to personnel and equipment were set out in the Defence in a Competitive Age paper published on 22 March 2021.

The Armed forces in Wales refers to military bases and organisation in Wales or associated with Wales. This includes servicemen and women from Wales and Welsh regiments and brigades of the British Armed Forces.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Defence in a Competitive Age (PDF). Ministry of Defence. March 2021. ISBN 978-1-5286-2462-6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-22. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
↑ "Warship to be based permanently in Gibraltar". UK Defence Journal. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
↑ "First Sea Lord Sea Power Conference Speech 2021". Royal Navy. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
↑ "Royal Navy to get new surveillance ship". UK Defence Journal. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Integrated Review: Defence Command Paper, Volume 691: debated on Monday 22 March 2021" . Retrieved 2021-03-23.
↑ "UK announces new Type 83 Destroyer". UK Defence Journal. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
1 2 3 "Integrated Review: Defence Command Paper, Volume 691: debated on Monday 22 March 2021" . Retrieved 2021-03-23.
↑ "Future Soldier: What is the British Army being promised as part of modernisation plans?". BFBS . 26 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
1 2 "Future Soldier". www.army.mod.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
↑ Chuter, Andrew (2021-03-23). "Who are the winners and losers in Britain's new defense review?". Defense News. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Defence in a Competitive Age (PDF). Ministry of Defence. March 2021. ISBN 978-1-5286-2462-6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-22. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
↑ "Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament". questions-statements.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
↑ White Paper, p. 58.
↑ "Integrated Review: Defence Command Paper, Volume 691: debated on Monday 22 March 2021" . Retrieved 2021-03-23.
↑ "New Army Ranger Regiment: What We Know So Far". Forces Net. 24 March 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-03-24. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
1 2 "First glimpse of 'Future Soldier'". Soldier Magazine. 1 August 2021. p. 14.
↑ "UK Defence Command Paper: MoD circumspect on future F-35 numbers". Janes. 22 March 2021.
↑ Allison, George (2021-03-23). "UK looking at '60 and then maybe up to 80′ F-35B jets" . Retrieved 2021-03-24.

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Defence in a Competitive Age (PDF). Ministry of Defence. March 2021. ISBN 978-1-5286-2462-6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-22. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

[2] "Warship to be based permanently in Gibraltar". UK Defence Journal. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

[3] "First Sea Lord Sea Power Conference Speech 2021". Royal Navy. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.

[4] "Royal Navy to get new surveillance ship". UK Defence Journal. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

[ArmyHansard-5] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Integrated Review: Defence Command Paper, Volume 691: debated on Monday 22 March 2021" . Retrieved 2021-03-23.

[6] "UK announces new Type 83 Destroyer". UK Defence Journal. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

[ArmyHansard2-7] 1 2 3 "Integrated Review: Defence Command Paper, Volume 691: debated on Monday 22 March 2021" . Retrieved 2021-03-23.

[futuresoldier-8] "Future Soldier: What is the British Army being promised as part of modernisation plans?". BFBS . 26 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.

[:12-9] 1 2 "Future Soldier". www.army.mod.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-15.

[10] Chuter, Andrew (2021-03-23). "Who are the winners and losers in Britain's new defense review?". Defense News. Retrieved 2021-03-24.

[:02-11] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Defence in a Competitive Age (PDF). Ministry of Defence. March 2021. ISBN 978-1-5286-2462-6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-22. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

[:8-12] "Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament". questions-statements.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-20.

[13] White Paper, p. 58.

[ArmyHansard3-14] "Integrated Review: Defence Command Paper, Volume 691: debated on Monday 22 March 2021" . Retrieved 2021-03-23.

[15] "New Army Ranger Regiment: What We Know So Far". Forces Net. 24 March 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-03-24. Retrieved 2021-03-24.

[auto3-16] 1 2 "First glimpse of 'Future Soldier'". Soldier Magazine. 1 August 2021. p. 14.

[17] "UK Defence Command Paper: MoD circumspect on future F-35 numbers". Janes. 22 March 2021.

[18] Allison, George (2021-03-23). "UK looking at '60 and then maybe up to 80′ F-35B jets" . Retrieved 2021-03-24.

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