Army spearhead division to be cut back and delayed for five years

A PROPOSED “war-fighting” division of the Army will be slimmed down and delayed by at least five years, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has admitted, a development critics say could see our forces “haemorrhaging credibility”.

The last defence spending review, in 2015, called for the Army to field a division of three brigades. This force would be assembled from two armoured infantry and two new “strike” brigades, the latter able to deploy rapidly over long distances using the new Ajax and Boxer armoured vehicles.

The MOD has said it will not be able to field a full fighting division, universally understood to be made up of about 10,000 troops, until the 2030s and has changed the accepted understanding of the size of such a force.

The new division was set to be up and running by 2025 and include troops and equipment “optimised for high-intensity combat operations”.

But in a statement to the Commons defence select committee, the MOD said it would only be able to field one armoured infantry brigade, of about 3,000 troops, equipped with tanks and armoured vehicles by that time.

This force will fight alongside a new “Interim Manoeuvre Support Brigade” of reconnaissance units and Light Infantry equipped with much older vehicles. The Army has said it will buy 589 Ajax reconnaissance vehicles and 508 eight-wheeled Boxer vehicles for the infantry, each programme costing about £2.5 billion.

However, a lack of cash has meant the fleets will not be fully in service for another decade meaning soldiers will have to operate in lightly protected vehicles, many of which were bought for service in Afghanistan.

It means the number of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, fielded by 3rd UK Division, based on Salisbury Plain, will be the smallest in post-war history.

Jack Watling of Rusi, a defence thinktank, said the British Army risked “haemorrhaging credibility” if it didn’t either buy new equipment or significantly upgrade existing vehicles.

He warned: “3 UK Division isn’t credible right now and our allies know that. We couldn’t get it [to a battle] quickly enough and it wouldn’t fare well once there.”

The Government’s Integrated Review of foreign, security and defence policy, is expected to report next month and will attempt to balance investment in future capabilities with the requirement to field a credible fighting force today.

The head of the Army, General Sir Mark Carleton- Smith, sees a more deployable force as having greater deterrent value. Lighter, more mobile units are thought to suit this model better than upgrading existing legacy equipment.