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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As of 1 January 2025, the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Gurkhas, 25,742 volunteer reserve personnel and 4,697 "other personnel", for a total of 108,413.
The British Army traces back to 1707 and the formation of the united Kingdom of Great Britain which joined the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into a single state and, with that, united the English Army and the Scots Army as the British Army. The English Bill of Rights 1689 and Scottish Claim of Right Act 1689 require parliamentary consent for the Crown to maintain a peacetime standing army. Members of the British Army swear allegiance to the monarch as their commander-in-chief. The army is administered by the Ministry of Defence and commanded by the Chief of the General Staff.
At its inception, being composed primarily of cavalry and infantry, the British Army was one of two Regular Forces (there were also separate Reserve Forces) within the British military (those parts of the British Armed Forces tasked with land warfare, as opposed to the naval forces), with the other having been the Ordnance Military Corps (made up of the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, and the Royal Sappers and Miners) of the Board of Ordnance, which along with the originally civilian Commissariat Department, stores and supply departments, as well as barracks and other departments, were absorbed into the British Army when the Board of Ordnance was abolished in 1855. Various other civilian departments of the board were absorbed into the War Office.
The British Army has seen action in major wars between the world's great powers, including the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and the
First and
Second World
Wars. Britain's victories in most of these decisive wars allowed it to influence world events and establish itself as one of the world's leading military and economic powers. Since the end of the
Cold
War, the British Army has been deployed to a number of conflict zones, often as part of an expeditionary force, a coalition force or part of a
United Nations peacekeeping operation.
Spending
on defence R&D has been much reduced over the years, leaving an
innovation void that Russia identified across many other European
nations, generating a window of opportunity for Vladimir Putin to invade
Ukraine. The Ukraine has taken up the research torch in earnest and out
of necessity, focusing on developing drone warfare.
In
this fictional original story, the MOD want Jimmy Watson's technology,
as a way of making up for lost time, and saving the British taxpayer
money. Army and DSTL chiefs are thus prepared to bury Jimmy and General
Watson, and prepare the groundwork's to discredit the duo, beginning
with using the local
council's corrupt enforcement department, to do some of the dirty
work for them. Unfortunately for the council, Marion is wise to
Herstmonceux and Wealden's dirty tricks departments, where she
considered becoming a councillor, right up until she identified the rule
breaking first hand. And thought better of it.
Candidates need to swear an oath of allegiance to King
Charles III.
.....
FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS - 1914 TO 1945
Great Britain was challenged by other powers, primarily the German Empire and
Nazi
Germany, during the 20th century. A century earlier it vied with Napoleonic France for global pre-eminence, and Hanoverian Britain's natural allies were the kingdoms and principalities of northern
Germany. By the middle of the 19th century, Britain and France were allies in preventing Russia's appropriation of the Ottoman Empire, although the fear of French invasion led shortly afterwards to the creation of the Volunteer Force. By the first decade of the 20th century, the United Kingdom was allied with France (by the Entente Cordiale) and Russia (which had a secret agreement with France for mutual support in a war against the Prussian-led German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire).
When the First World War broke out in August 1914 the British Army sent the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), consisting mainly of regular army troops, to
France and
Belgium. The fighting bogged down into static trench warfare for the remainder of the war. In 1915 the army created the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force to invade the Ottoman Empire via Gallipoli, an unsuccessful attempt to capture Constantinople and secure a sea route to Russia.
The First World War was the most devastating in British military history, with nearly 800,000 men killed and over two million wounded. Early in the war, the BEF was virtually destroyed and was replaced first by volunteers and then by a conscript force. Major battles included those at the Somme and Passchendaele. Advances in technology saw the advent of the tank (and the creation of the Royal Tank Regiment) and advances in aircraft design (and the creation of the Royal Flying Corps) which would be decisive in future battles. Trench warfare dominated Western Front strategy for most of the war, and the use of chemical weapons (disabling and poison gases) added to the devastation.
The Second World War broke out in September 1939 with the Soviet and German Army's invasion of
Poland. British assurances to the Poles led the British Empire to declare war on Germany. As in the First World War, a relatively small BEF was sent to
France but then hastily evacuated from Dunkirk as the German forces swept through the Low Countries and across France in May 1940.
After the British Army recovered from its earlier defeats, it defeated the Germans and Italians at the Second Battle of El Alamein in North Africa in 1942–1943 and helped drive them from Africa. It then fought through Italy and, with the help of American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Indian and Free French forces, was the principal organiser and participant in the
D-Day invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944; nearly half the Allied soldiers were British. In the Far East, the British Army rallied against the Japanese in the Burma Campaign and regained the British Far Eastern colonial possessions.
EQUIPMENT
INFANTRY
The British Army's basic weapon is the 5.56 mm L85A2 or L85A3 assault rifle, with some specialist personnel using the L22A2 carbine variant (pilots and some tank crew). The weapon was traditionally equipped with either iron sights or an optical SUSAT, although other optical sights have been subsequently purchased to supplement these. The weapon can be enhanced further utilising the Picatinny rail with attachments such as the L17A2 under-barrel grenade launcher. In 2023, the Army Special Operations Brigade, which includes the Ranger Regiment, began using the L403A1, an AR-pattern rifle also used by the Royal Marines.
Some soldiers are equipped with the 7.62mm L129A1 sharpshooter rifle, which in 2018 formally replaced the L86A2 Light Support Weapon. Support fire is provided by the L7 general-purpose machine gun (GPMG), and indirect fire is provided by L16 81mm mortars. Sniper rifles include the L118A1 7.62 mm, L115A3 and the AW50F, all manufactured by Accuracy International. The British Army utilises the Glock 17 as its side arm.
Anti tank guided weapons include the Javelin, the medium range anti-tank guided weapon replacement for Milan, with overfly and direct attack modes of operation, and the NLAW. The Next-generation Light Anti-tank Weapon (NLAW) is the first, non-expert, short-range, anti-tank missile that rapidly knocks out any main battle tank in just one shot by striking it from above.
ARMOUR
The army's main battle tank is the Challenger 2, which is being upgraded to Challenger 3. It is supported by the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle as the primary infantry fighting
vehicle, (which will soon be replaced by the Boxer 8x8 armoured fighting vehicle) and the Bulldog armoured personnel
carrier. Light armoured units often utilise the Supacat "Jackal" MWMIK and Coyote tactical support vehicle for reconnaissance and fire support.
ARTILLERY
The army has three main artillery systems: the M270 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), the Archer and the L118 light gun. The MLRS, first used in Operation Granby, has an 85-kilometre (53 mi) standard range, or with the PrSM, up to 500 km. The Archer is a 155 mm self-propelled armoured gun with a 50-kilometre (31 mi) range. The L118 light gun is a 105 mm towed gun, which is typically towed by a Pinzgauer all-terrain vehicle. To identify artillery targets, the army operates the TAIPAN artillery detection radar and utilises artillery sound ranging. For air defence it uses the new Sky Sabre system, which in 2021 replaced the Rapier. It also deploys the Very Short-Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) Starstreak HVM (high-velocity missile) launched by a single soldier or from a Stormer HVM vehicle-mounted launcher.
PROTECTED MOBILITY
Where armour is not required or mobility and speed are favoured the British Army utilises protected patrol vehicles, such as the Panther variant of the Iveco LMV, the Foxhound, and variants of the Cougar family (such as the Ridgeback, Husky and Mastiff). For day-to-day utility work the army commonly uses the Land Rover Wolf, which is based on the Land Rover Defender.
ENGINEERS, UTILITY & SIGNALS
Specialist engineering vehicles include bomb-disposal robots such as the T7 Multi-Mission Robotic System and the modern variants of the Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers, including the Titan bridge-layer, Trojan armoured engineer vehicle, Terrier armoured digger. Day-to-day utility work uses a series of support vehicles, including six-, nine- and fifteen-tonne MAN trucks, Oshkosh heavy-equipment transporters (HET), close-support tankers, quad bikes and ambulances. Tactical communication uses the Bowman radio system, and operational or strategic communication is controlled by the Royal Corps of Signals.
AVIATION
The Army Air Corps (AAC) provides direct aviation support, with the Royal Air Force providing support helicopters. The primary attack helicopter is the Boeing AH-64E Apache which replaced the AgustaWestland Apache AH-1 in the anti-tank, anti-air defence, and anti-armour role. The AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat is a dedicated intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) helicopter. The Eurocopter AS 365N Dauphin is used for special operations aviation, primarily counter terrorism operations, within the UK. The army operates unmanned aerial vehicles in a surveillance role, such as the small Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk III.
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DSTL'S
PURPOSE
The Dstl´s purpose is to maximise the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the
UK.
Their role is to supply sensitive and specialist science and technology services for the Ministry of Defence
(MOD) and wider
government.
They
also act as a trusted interface between MOD, wider government, the private sector, academia and allies to support
military co-operation, capability delivery, diplomacy and economic policy.
The Dstl champions selected science and technology skills across
the Ministry of Defence. Civilians are of course excluded. Exceptions
being Alan
Turing, during WWII.
Where, they were desperate for his intellectual daring in the sphere of
computers.
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