British Army faces heavy cull of armoured vehicles
Radical plans to reshape the British Army's armoured and mechanised forces that will involve the early retirement of more than 2,000 armoured vehicles are being prepared as a result of the UK's Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).
Final touches to the plans are being made by the British Army's HQ Land Forces at Andover in Hampshire and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Equipment Capability branch in London. The core elements, which are intended to help HQ Land Forces meet its target of saving GBP5 billion (USD7.7 billion) over the next five years, include the retirement within 18 months of 1,200 Alvis Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) variants, 1,400 BAE Systems Bulldog and FV430 armoured personnel carriers and 198 BAE Systems Vector mine-protected vehicles.
These vehicles will be placed in long-term storage, put up for sale or scrapped. Hundreds of Warrior infantry fighting vehicles are also going into storage as part of the British Army's cost saving package.
Senior army officers have told Jane's that the proposals, which will be put to government ministers for approval later in January 2011, are the result of the SDSR's focus on the Afghanistan campaign and the recognition that the British Army will not be required over the next five years to participate in any brigade or divisional-sized armoured operations elsewhere in the world. "If we are not going to fight any armoured battles anytime soon, then the logic says we don't need to be trained and equipped to fight one," said a senior British Army officer.
British Army faces heavy cull of armoured vehicles
Radical plans to reshape the British Army's armoured and mechanised forces that will involve the early retirement of more than 2,000 armoured vehicles are being prepared as a result of the UK's Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).
Final touches to the plans are being made by the British Army's HQ Land Forces at Andover in Hampshire and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Equipment Capability branch in London. The core elements, which are intended to help HQ Land Forces meet its target of saving GBP5 billion (USD7.7 billion) over the next five years, include the retirement within 18 months of 1,200 Alvis Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) variants, 1,400 BAE Systems Bulldog and FV430 armoured personnel carriers and 198 BAE Systems Vector mine-protected vehicles.
These vehicles will be placed in long-term storage, put up for sale or scrapped. Hundreds of Warrior infantry fighting vehicles are also going into storage as part of the British Army's cost saving package.
Senior army officers have told Jane's that the proposals, which will be put to government ministers for approval later in January 2011, are the result of the SDSR's focus on the Afghanistan campaign and the recognition that the British Army will not be required over the next five years to participate in any brigade or divisional-sized armoured operations elsewhere in the world. "If we are not going to fight any armoured battles anytime soon, then the logic says we don't need to be trained and equipped to fight one," said a senior British Army officer.
British Army faces heavy cull of armoured vehicles