UK Armed Forces restructure – a concept

New Armed Forces structure – a concept.
This is just an idea I’ve been toying around with in my head for the past few months, let me know what you think. I’ll readily admit that there might be problems that I’ve missed, I don’t pretend to be an expert, this is just one man’s opinion. and blue-sky thinking.

It seems to me that the inter-service rivalries and lack of clear areas of responsibility has created many problems within the UK armed forces. This new structure aims to rectify these problems. It may make some unpopular suggestions, but these have not been made with any favouritism or conscious bias in mind, only which service would be best suited to fulfil the objective.

The primary role of any nation’s armed forces is the defence of their homeland, and the UK is no different. They are also asked to conduct expeditionary warfare, around the globe, to fight for the UK’s interests. Although there is a great deal of overlap between the two, they are in fact, two separate objectives, requiring different skills and equipment.
The Defence of the UK:

Since the UK no longer faces existential threats, a minimal defence force is required. This force can be supplemented by the expeditionary forces if required by national emergency.

The Territorial Army, sharing equipment and training with the Regular Army, should be tasked with providing the land component of the defence force. Made up mainly of part-time personnel with a core of full-timers, it is not to be deployed outside of the UK. Its role is to assist the authorities with national emergencies, be they natural disasters, civil disturbances etc, as deemed necessary. Naturally they are also trained to fight as well, but since the chances of the UK being invaded are remote this need not be their current main emphasis.

The RAF Air Defence Command covers UK itself. Since all of the UK’s neighbours are friendly or allied nations, this task could be fulfilled by a relatively simple lightweight fighter. Air Defence Command is organised into several squadrons, enough to provide QRA aircraft for the entire country plus a surge capacity. It can include an element of reservists to bolster its numbers.

The policing of the Seas around the UK should be subordinated to the Coastguard, a sub-department of the Royal Navy. This consists of lightly armed patrol craft, and maritime patrol aircraft with ASW responsibilities within UK waters to defend RN vessels and bases.

Expeditionary Warfare:

Expeditionary warfare is the essence of power projection, and for this several changes need to be made.

The Royal Navy forms the core of the UK’s expeditionary capability, and is greatly expanded under this plan. It would be transformed into a true blue-water navy, and also provide the bulk of the UK’s expeditionary airpower. Equipped with multi-role squadrons of carrier capable fighters that are also deployed from foreign airbases where possible, the FAA defends the Fleet, and provides air cover and strike for UK land forces abroad. The Royal Marines are also expanded, proving the UK with amphibious capabilities and elite light infantry. Other expeditionary requirements, such as electronic warfare etc, are also the responsibility of the Royal Navy, as is the nuclear deterrent.

The Regular Army is geared towards expeditionary war-fighting and peacekeeping abroad. In keeping with its new focus on expeditionary capabilities, Parachute infantry and airmobile forces are increased in proportion to other forces.

The RAF Strategic Command is tasked with airpower projection and support, and so aerial refuelling, transport and long-range bombing etc, falls under their remit.

Some of my reasoning:
– The current system gives us a situation where the RAF has capable land-based fighters that cannot deploy with the Royal Navy, and are over-engineered for their role of homeland air-defence. By having the RAF focus only on what they need for this role and the Navy on flexible squadrons that can deploy wherever needed we can save on replicating capabilities across the services.
– By creating a sub-set of services that are only concerned with the defence of the UK, we free up the rest of the forces for other duties, freeing them from responsibilities that they are over-trained and equipped for and allowing them to train in skills that are more valuable for foreign deployment.
– The UK is not threatened militarily for the foreseeable future, but our foreign interests are. By giving defence roles to reservists who are not burdened with the chance of being deployed abroad we can save money and create more elite units with the Regular forces.