Page 50 - ABA Salvoes 1999-2024

targeting cell develops all source fusion from brigade J2 and 30 Commando into targeting solutions which are then boarded for attack at Task Force level or referred to the Component or Joint Commander.
Advance and Pre-Landing Force Operations. The Shaping Phase of a theatre entry operation consists of two discrete activities - Advance Force and Pre-Landing Force Operations that aim to isolate the objective areas, gain information about the adversary and prepare the Amphibious Objective Area (AOA). Advance Force Operations precede the Main Force’s arrival into the AOA and seeks to deepen understanding, acquire and develop targets. The force will be task organised to meet the demands of the mission, and may include non-organic forces temporarily assigned to the Task Force; it will include: Ground Manned Reconnaissance, Combat Engineer Recce, Electronic Warfare / Signals Intelligence detachments, and Advance / Pre-Landing Force FSTs. This bespoke Advance Force will be directed to perform specific tasks that include, but are not limited to, the reconnaissance and surveillance of objectives, and subsequent destruction of targets which would otherwise impede theatre entry deliver supporting effects in their own right. Advance Force operations are inherently high- risk; the force will be operating in isolation, at reach from support, with a paucity of immediate resources for protection. As a result, these operations carry a high level of risk to the Joint Commander. The decision to deploy these forces must balance the advantages of operational and tactical surprise against the requirement for preparation of the AOA. Advance Force operations conducted at extended range from the Task Force may operate without direct fire support for protection, whilst the ability to target an adversary’s high payoff targets might be achieved through the use of operational level conventionally armed stand off munitions (Tomahawk Land Attack Missile and Storm Shadow). Pre-Landing Force Operations are conducted by the Task Force upon its arrival into the AOA and immediately prior to the main assault landings to reduce risk to the landing and enable effective landings to take place. Advance Force to Pre- Landing Force is a transition of Battlespace, moving from shaping to enabling functions. The Pre-Landing Force is tasked to achieve similar objectives as the Advance Force but with increasing focus on the actual landings. Tasks include: gathering tactical intelligence, isolating landing craft and aviation landing sites, providing terminal guidance to the objectives for the assaulting force and destroying / neutralising targets of immediate threat to the force. As with Advance Force operations a balance must be struck between exposing these troops early and the requirement to develop understanding of the enemy. Pre-Landing Force operations are conducted once the AOA has been established and the Amphibious Task Force is in range to provide a degree of support. As a result, these operations are better resourced. The integration of Joint Fires weapons during Pre-Landing Force operations
will include: Naval Gunfire Support, Close Air Support from coalition aircraft carriers and Aviation; this includes the Lynx Wildcat helicopter and AH-64 Apache. Maritime Unmanned Air Systems (ScanEagle) may also support operations if deployed on supporting escorts.
Pre-Landing Force Training Requirements. The level of risk involved with conducting Advanced/Pre-Landing Force operations is mitigated through the selection and arduous training of those that serve with the Battery. All team operators must pass the six week Naval Gunfire Assistants’ course and subsequently the Royal Marines’ Recce Operator courses as Employment Training in addition to technical qualifications. Classified as ‘Prone to Capture and Exploitation’, all team members complete the twoweekSurvival,Evasion,ResistanceandEscape(SERE) level C course delivered by the Defence SERE Training Organisation. To project forward of the Landing Force the Battery maintains a number of discrete Methods of Insertion skills. These include insertion by parachute, small boat, submarine, aviation or combinations thereof. Team members are qualified to conduct parachute descents onto land and water with inflatable craft that allows the insertion of a complete FST to the shoreline piloted by the team’s organic coxswain. All methods are designed to maximize the patrol range from the task force which will be ‘Over the Horizon’ with minimal risk of detection. To maintain currency and competency, of both the observers and naval shipping, teams deploy globally to various naval gunfire ranges. Annual deployments include: Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the Falkland Islands. An annual Battery exercise to the USA maintains links with the US Marine Corps ANGLICO (Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company) and tactical exercises alongside the Surveillance Reconnaissance Squadron include Norway and a further annual overseas training exercise (this year two teams will deploy to Slovenia) make for a busy but varied and rewarding lifestyle. [2] Until HMS Queen Elizabeth reaches IOC, the UK will not be able to operate offensive aircraft abroad when foreign basing is denied.
The lessons of history. Despite many operational deployments over the last 30 years, Operation CORPORATE still provides the best examples of how 148 Battery supports Theatre Entry Operations and the requirement to deliver fires in the Advance and Pre-Landing Force. Many missions during that campaign could demonstrate the use of 148 Battery in both the Advance and Pre- Landing Operations but the Pebble Island Raid and the operation to neutralise the enemy over looking San Carlos Water from Fanning Head are particularly useful vignettes to examine. The airfield on Pebble Island was a critical capability of the Argentinian Air Force allowing them a base to launch reconnaissance aircraft. These aircraft could have compromised the Task Force’s intentions prior to the D-Day landings, offering the Argentinians air superiority and jeopardising the whole operation. To neutralise the threat prior to the Amphibious Task
48 | Amphibious Bombardment Association