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A look at the Equipment Programme and an ear for the Secretary of State's...
Equipment Programme 2017: Category A and B projects The MOD has published a FOI answer in which it details the names of the projects of category A (value exceeding 400 million pounds) and B (from 100...
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The Aachen Treaty and Great Power Competition
First of all, a due premise: if it wasn’t already clear, I will warn that I am a convinced Atlanticist. I literally have a NATO star mosaic in the alleyway leading to the door of my home, designed by...
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Challenger 2 numbers: don't waste time on the wrong ones
The Times, almost certainly thanks to someone “leaking” from within the Army, has thrown the bombshell news of the British Army sinking even lower in the global league by preparing to see another...
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RUSI tries to fix STRIKE, but can it be fixed?
RUSI has published the Occasional Paper “STRIKE – From concept to Force”, and in many ways its authors agree with me on the problems of STRIKE and, partially, even on what is needed to correct them....
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Of compromises and priorities
The signing of the contract for the Mechanized Infantry Vehicle for the army is something to be cheered, of course, but i don’t think it should be welcomed without critique. This hugely expensive...
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Towards the SDSR 2020
5 years ago, I ran a series of articles ahead of the SDSR 2015 in which I highlighted what, in my opinion, were the priorities to be tackled in the review. Admittedly, it was perhaps easier back then,...
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Of Carriers, Obsolescence and Vulnerability
An aircraft carrier isa sovereign, mobile air base that ensures you can apply airpower at a point of your choosing. It ensures the fleet can have its own intimate air support, and its own timely air...
View ArticleThe cringeworthy debate pre-SDSR
I’ve already written out my thoughts about the SDSR 2020 and, despite the enduring noise about Cummings and cuts and other unpleasant news, i’m sticking to that description, for now at least. You can...
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The British Combat Aviation Brigade
It has been in the works for quite some time, and will be a building site for several years still, but the UK is finally standing up its own Combat Aviation Brigade to bring some order in the...
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The many weaknesses of STRIKE
An idea can only ever be as good as its executionNOTE: this article was originally meant to appear also on uklandpower.com, since it was initially conceived specifically as a reply to one of their...
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A different angle to difficult choices
First, a premise. I really hate the “difficult choices” refrain that is constantly brought up when talking about UK armed forces. It’s right up there with “sacred cows” and other rhetoric figures which...
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The sad farcical pre-Integrated Review: amphibious without ships
One area of massive concern ahead of the Integrated Review is the UK’s amphibious capability. Despite the attempts to put up smiles and talk of “exciting” times ahead for the “Future Commando Force”,...
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The huge issues in the Integrated Review
F-35 Will the new Review provide an actual plan for the UK's F-35 purchase? It is very much time to decide, because UK purchases are only planned out up to the 48th airplane. Specifically, the UK is...
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The British Army: where do we go from here...?
The reckoning We are weeks away from the publication of the long awaited, much anticipated and very much feared Integrated Review and, in particular, of the Defence White Paper which should provide...
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"After the Wall Came Down": a journey through decades of constant change
Andrew Richards retired from the Army in 2002, but the Army never really leaves you. It is an experience that inevitably leaves memories, some of which dear, some less so. And so, keeping in touch...
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Combined Arms Regiments on the way to the Future Combat Team
I’ve already written a first piece about the (limited) options available to the Army for the future in light of the cut of the whole WARRIOR fleet, but it’s time to go a bit more in detail about the...
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the BOXER purchase
A Written Answer has finally provided interesting details about the british purchase of BOXER vehicles. Minister Jeremy Quin, on 9 June, said: Details of the variants of Boxer currently on order by...
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The Maritime Electronic Warfare Programme
The Maritime Electronic Warfare Programme (MEWP) has entered the Major Projects spreadsheet for the first time in the issue published earlier this month. This project has been in existence for...
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Time for courage
The British Army is expected to reveal more details about its future plans sometime “in the autumn”, which in theory means sometime soon. The internal work to define the way forward is known as...
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A Future Soldier alternative
Some observations on Future Soldier. And AJAX. There can be no discussion of an alternative to Future Soldier without first spending a few words on AJAX, and how the plan as published has faced some...
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An internal struggle?
In the last while I’ve been hard at work on a long article, destined to the leading Italian defence-themed publication, which tries to explain the intricacies of Future Soldier to a non UK audience....
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Everyone is recce, everyone is strike: an organisation for a small but tough...
As I’ve made hopefully clear on Twitter in several different occasions, I am convinced the Integrated Review was very good. The Defence Command Paper had a lot of good things about it too, although it...
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Does Ukraine salvage STRIKE?
The quick exploitation of the gap that the Ukrainians have punched in a lightly-held section of the Kharkiv front and in general the successful use of wheeled AFVs has caused some legit discussion...
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An entry ahead of the new SDSR
For the first post in literally years, I'm sharing the submission I've filed in the public consultation for the SDSR. The format of the consultation involved a long list of fixed questions that could...
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What NATO wants
While the publication of the Strategic Defence Review is some time away still and surprises are the only thing that is always to be expected in British policy for Defence, we actually have a pretty...
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