Philip Hammond: army will lose regiments and rely more on reserves

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/07/army-regiments-face-cuts-philip-hammond

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Whole regiments could be axed or merged, and infantry battalions and armoured units disappear as the army faces its biggest shakeup since the end of the cold war, Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, will say on Thursday.

The army will be cut from 102,000 to 82,000 by the year 2020 and will have to rely more on reserves and private contractors, he is expected to say.

But it will continue to provide the "teeth" in future military operations as Britain's European allies provide the logistics backup, Hammond will say at a London conference on land warfare run by the Royal United Services Institute thinktank.

Defence officials emphasised that more functions of the army would be "outsourced" – potentially to include more training and logistics as well as backup security work.

Restructuring the British army will "rethink the way we deliver every aspect of military effect in order to maximise capability at the front line". In future, he will say, the army must be "thinking innovatively about how combat service support is provided. Using more systematically the skills available in the reserve and from our contractors. Working closely with partners to operate logistics more rationally through [Nato] alliance structures. Looking to others to provide the tail, where Britain is concentrating on providing the teeth".

Hammond will stress the importance of the regimental tradition – "maintaining the ethos, traditions and connections that are part of what makes the British army so effective – particularly, a regimental system and regionally focused recruiting", he will say. But he is expected to emphasise the point that a regular army of 82,000 will have a very different structure to one of 102,000. "Some units inevitably will be lost or will merge," the defence secretary will warn.

Hammond will say there is "no question of abandoning the regimental system... that does not mean that we can avoid difficult decisions as the army gets smaller." History and heritage deliver "tangible military benefits in the modern British army".

The speech comes at a difficult time for the army as it tries to work out a role for land forces after most UK soldiers leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The likelihood is that future conflicts will rely more on drones, precision missiles and small groups of special forces on the ground, rather than large numbers of ground troops.

No final decision has been taken on what regiments and other army units may go, defence officials maintain.

There has been speculation that Scottish regiments, including the Black Watch, are being targeted because fewer recruits are coming from the local population.

Commonwealth recruits, now accounting for about one in 10 recruits in some regiments. Armoured and artillery units will also be hit as the number of heavy guns and battle tanks are reduced to make way for more agile and lighter brigades.

Reserves will take on a greater role. Hammond is expected to refer to plans to transform the role of reserve forces in frontline military operations. The Ministry of Defence plans to invest an additional £1.8bn in the reserves over 10 years.

"The future reserves must be structured to provide, as they do today, some niche specialists capabilities that aren't cost-effective to maintain on a full time basis – for example in areas of cyber, medical, or intelligence", Hammond is expected to tell Thursday's conference.

"The integrated army concept means that light infantry battalions will be reinforced on deployment through a permanent partnership with reserve battalions", he is due to say.

However, there are fears that plans to increase the number of reserves, and their roles, by so much are far too optimistic.

His reference to UK's allies providing the "tail", while the British supply the "teeth" reflects increasing frustration in London with the failure of many European countries to adapt or modernise their forces against the background of budget cuts and conflicts — actual and potential — very different from anything imagined during the cold war.