British Military Current Events

[CBH99]

Try that in Toronto

Army runs secret wargames under central London​

The British Army covertly took over a disused part of the London Underground in central London to plan a Nato military response to possible future Russian attacks.

Hundreds of British soldiers took part in what the army called "one of the most ambitious military exercises in a generation" in the disused platforms of Charing Cross Underground station.

Arrcade Strike was described as "a major command post exercise run by the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC), which is Nato’s deployable corps headquarters, led by the British Army".

It was designed to test ARRC's ability to plan and command large-scale military operations involving about 100,000 personnel drawn from the UK and its Nato allies.

Charing Cross Tube station used for major military exercise

The exercise tested the army's ability to plan military operations involving NATO and UK forces.

www.bbc.com

These were like the least secret wargames ever

Well publicized prior to, during, and post ex

 

[CBH99]

It has been a year since the UK published it latest Strategic Defence Review. The attendant Defence Investment Strategy is still pending.

In the past year what has been accomplished and what needs to be done.

There were five goals

1 Increase Army Lethality 10-fold.
According to General Barrons this is in hand. It only needs more money. There is a plan and it is workable. This seems to be the easy bit.

2 Integrate the Navy, Army and Air Force under the command of the Chief of Defence Staff.
This is new. Think Paul Hellyer. And send more money.

3 The Digital Targeting Web
One web for all services, sensors and shooters. See item 2, including the bit about more money.

4 Recruitment and Retention
Bodies...paid and reserve.

5 A National Conversation on Defence
Crickets. The Prime Minister is in trouble. He and his government are unpopular. Council seats lost. Just the time to tell people they are in imminent danger, their taxes will go up, their benefits will go down and if they want a paycheck there a lots with rifles and uniforms attached.

Strategic Defence Review hailed as transformative: One year on, how much of that is reality?

General Sir Richard Barrons, a co-author of the SDR and a former Commander of Joint Forces Command, discusses five key benchmarks

www.forcesnews.com

As an British ex-pat, dare we ask your opinion of Starmer??

 

[Kirkhill]

As an British ex-pat, dare we ask your opinion of Starmer??

This site is pretty liberal in its accommodation of views and language but I am afraid it is insufficiently liberal for my opinions on that matter.

 

[daftandbarmy]

This site is pretty liberal in its accommodation of views and language but I am afraid it is insufficiently liberal for my opinions on that matter.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Interesting...

BFBS Forces News on Instagram: "3 PARA meet US Dragoons in Lithuania🪖 British paratroopers and US cavalry troops went head-to-head on Exercise Fly Trap — testing tactics, drones and counter-drone systems in a modern battlefield environment 🔗Link in

1,148 likes, 0 comments - forcesnews on May 13, 2026: "3 PARA meet US Dragoons in Lithuania🪖 British paratroopers and US cavalry troops went head-to-head on Exercise Fly Trap — testing tactics, drones and counter-drone systems in a modern battlefield environment 🔗Link in bio to find out more".

www.instagram.com

 

[daftandbarmy]

Not sure why this has come up now, but FYI...

Prince Harry labelled ‘cringeworthy’ by veteran army officer​

Prince Harry is called out for disrespecting his role as former member of the British Army

The Duke of Sussex, who wrote about his time in the British Army in his 2023 memoir ‘Spare,’ is ridiculed for not being a team player.

Retired army veteran Col Tim Collins told Forces News: "Amongst his assertions is a claim that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan. That's not how you behave in the army; it's not how we think. He has badly let the side down. We don't do notches on the rifle butt. We never did."

He the accused Harry of engaging in "a tragic moneymaking scam to fund the lifestyle he can't afford".

"I've never heard anyone talk about kill counts, it's crass and frankly cringeworthy. Taking a life is the most serious thing you can ever do on ops, serious people don't talk it up as a game to shift a few books."

Prince Harry labelled ‘cringeworthy’ by veteran army officer

Prince Harry is called out for his distasteful comments over a wall.The Duke of Sussex, who wrote about his time in the British Army in his 2023 memoir ‘Spare,’ is ridiculed for not...

www.thenews.com.pk

 

[Blackadder1916]

Not sure why this has come up now, but FYI...

Prince Harry labelled ‘cringeworthy’ by veteran army officer​

Prince Harry is called out for disrespecting his role as former member of the British Army

The Duke of Sussex, who wrote about his time in the British Army in his 2023 memoir ‘Spare,’ is ridiculed for not being a team player.

Retired army veteran Col Tim Collins told Forces News: "Amongst his assertions is a claim that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan. That's not how you behave in the army; it's not how we think. He has badly let the side down. We don't do notches on the rifle butt. We never did."

He the accused Harry of engaging in "a tragic moneymaking scam to fund the lifestyle he can't afford".

"I've never heard anyone talk about kill counts, it's crass and frankly cringeworthy. Taking a life is the most serious thing you can ever do on ops, serious people don't talk it up as a game to shift a few books."

Prince Harry labelled ‘cringeworthy’ by veteran army officer

Prince Harry is called out for his distasteful comments over a wall.The Duke of Sussex, who wrote about his time in the British Army in his 2023 memoir ‘Spare,’ is ridiculed for not...

www.thenews.com.pk

Clickbait, perhaps?

Col Collins made the comments (and they were reported) back when the red-haired one's book came out in 2023.

Army veterans criticise Prince Harry’s claim he killed 25 Taliban in Afghanistan

Col Tim Collins says ‘we don’t do notches on rifle butt’ and kill-count talk could increase Harry’s personal security risk

www.theguardian.com

Date/Time of the Guardian piece Fri 6 Jan 2023 16.38 GMT

Similar, original written articles from other reputable news organizations such as the BBC, CBC, Al Jazeera, et al are also dated from early Jan 2023. There are a couple of google hits (Yahoo article repeaters) for items within the past day but when when you hit links in them it brings it back to the ".pk" crap that you linked.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Clickbait, perhaps?

Col Collins made the comments (and they were reported) back when the red-haired one's book came out in 2023.

Army veterans criticise Prince Harry’s claim he killed 25 Taliban in Afghanistan

Col Tim Collins says ‘we don’t do notches on rifle butt’ and kill-count talk could increase Harry’s personal security risk

www.theguardian.com

Date/Time of the Guardian piece Fri 6 Jan 2023 16.38 GMT

Similar, original written articles from other reputable news organizations such as the BBC, CBC, Al Jazeera, et al are also dated from early Jan 2023. There are a couple of google hits (Yahoo article repeaters) for items within the past day but when when you hit links in them it brings it back to the ".pk" crap that you linked.

Huh... happy for a mod to nuke it...

 

[Kirkhill]

"The digital targeting web, which is scheduled to be delivered next year, will connect the Armed Forces' weapons systems more effectively, to both suck up and process huge amounts of data across all domains.

"The Army's key pillar of that web is the Land ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance) Programme, which will help digitise the Army by combining data sources and enabling quicker decision-making."

New tech will help cut through the clutter and find the right target, Army officer says

The digital targeting web, which is scheduled to be delivered next year, will connect the Armed Forces' weapons systems more effectively

www.forcesnews.com

 

[daftandbarmy]

Looking under the hood at the Household Cavalry...


What it’s Really Like To Be A Royal Guard - “It Was Horrific”

 

[Colin Parkinson]

NEP for the UK army

Sounds familiar

 

[daftandbarmy]

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[GK .Dundas]

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At least they removed it first !

 

[daftandbarmy]

But of course …

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[daftandbarmy]

Quite the kerfuffle...

https://twitter.com/x/status/2062280400714543438

 

[Kirkhill]

The Defence Investment Plan: Who should get what - and what could be sidelined?

With the plan soon to be published, BFBS' Sitrep podcast spoke to a defence expert about how it could shape the future of the Armed Forces

www.forcesnews.com

A lot of this sounds very Canadian, at least in terms of gaps and shortages. Hopefully we have the money to bridge those gaps.

One thing tahat soes stand out is that big ticket items cannot be sped up to meet today's ''crisis". Other solutions are going to be rquired in the short term and those revolve around novel technologies and software engineering.

....

And first and foremost is, as I think @ytz would agree,

"High on the agenda for all three services should be the Digital Targeting Web, Mr Savill suggested.

"Scheduled to be delivered next year, the initiative, spearheaded by the MOD, will connect the Armed Forces' weapons systems more effectively.

"Using Artificial Intelligence and cloud infrastructure, it drastically shortens the "kill chain", enabling commanders to detect, decide and attack threats faster than their adversaries.

"The Army's key pillar of that web is the Land ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance) Programme, which will help digitise the Army by combining data sources and enabling quicker decision-making.

"Mr Savill described it as one of the central elements "that underpins the effectiveness of the Armed Forces".

""At the heart of the way that we think we will continue to fight is, can we make better use of information to make better decisions more rapidly, because that way we can deal with adversaries who might have an advantage over us in terms of sheer numbers," he said."