Page 33 - Cavalry Regiment

The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars 5
Foreword by Colonel Commandant Royal Armoured Corps
Lieutenant General Sir Edward Smyth-Osbourne KCVO CBE
The 80th anniversary of the forma- tion of the Royal Armoured Corps is a time and an opportunity for us to reflect on our history, our traditions, our legacy and, with a little humility, our achievements as a Corps – while simultaneously looking to the future and what that might hold.
When I joined the Life Guards in 1983, there were 19 regular armoured regiments. The Cold War was at its height and we were mostly stationed in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine. It would have been impos- sible to conceive of a US president describing NATO as obsolete, or equally his French counterpart describing it as ‘brain dead’. But those certainties have vanished: we have largely withdrawn from Germany and have only nine regu- lar Royal Armoured Corps regiments. The complacent assumption that the fall of communism would mean that Russia would become a European nation, much like the others, has been shattered by its military resurgence and adventurism, in Georgia, Estonia and Ukraine, above all in the annexation of Crimea. China too has decided to assert herself to the degree that it is now also a concern for NATO.
Moreover, our recent operational experience on Operations TELIC and HERRICK saw us out of role, supporting rather than leading. Our training, equipment and our very raison d’être suf- fered as a result. But we have started to regain the place at the heart of the Army that we last held at around the time of Operation GRANBY, the first Gulf War. And we should make every effort to do so, because although sage pundits regularly pronounce that the tank is dead, this continues not to be the case. Certainly not for either the Russians or the Chinese, who continue to invest heav- ily and on a large scale in armour, via the Armata programme and the medium mechanized brigades respectively. Hybrid warfare, despite modern taxonomy, is as old as the hills. You only have to look at Hezbollah in the Lebanon or the Boers in South Africa. It is about pitting strength against weakness. In Eastern Europe you need conventional capability to defend and, by that token, deter with resilient command and control, armour, long range fires, air defence and the like alongside the ability to compete in an era of information, false news, cyber, subversion and sabotage. For both blue and red forces it is a case of ‘both-and’, not ‘either-or’. That conventional threat is the catalyst for us to consider our future.
Indeed, while Russia’s incursions into Ukraine popularised theo- ries of hybrid warfare, it is often overlooked that the annexation was made possible by the direct threat, and eventual application, of firepower. Thus, we must avoid the mistake of prioritising operations below the perceived threshold of armed conflict; we need balanced deterrence, and by that token defence, based on military capability for use throughout the spectrum of conflict.
So, given our 80th anniversary, and a ‘back to the future’ moment, albeit with a difference, where do we stand? It is good to note that Defence will spend £7bn in the next ten years on equipment for the RAC – the equivalent of two new aircraft carriers. ‘Ajax’ is entering ser- vice now with the Household Cavalry Regiment in Bulford. It has an impres- sive array of cutting-edge technology – though given its size and weight it brings with it a necessary re-thinking of our recce doctrine and tactics. Ajax rep- resents a huge leap forward in capability and broadens our utility, but we need to be clear that it is not a Main Battle Tank.
Which brings me to Challenger 2. Compared to the threat it is almost cer- tain that our heavy armour force is out sensed, out acquired, out reached and under protected. The Life Enhancement Program (LEP) is essential and must be enhanced given Russian and Chinese technical advances. LEP will not cover as many CR2 as we would like, but we shall continue to push for more heavy armour. At the other end of the spec- trum, the Light Cavalry Regiments, equipped with Jackal, continued to prove their utility with operational
demand stretching from the Baltics to the Maghreb, despite the absence of any policy provenance.
The Yeomanry, fully part of the RAC, provides our geographical footprint given the predominance of regular basing in the South. It is set to provide formed sub-units to deploy on operations and consistently proves its worth augmenting both Challenger 2 and Jackal-equipped regiments; Ajax as of yet being an unanswered but necessary question. We continue to provide excellence on State Ceremonial and Public Duties.
Ultimately however, it is not about the kit – it is about the man in the turret. And one thing that has not changed in my service with the Armoured Corps is the quality of its people. We are seen – rightly – as imaginative and innovative. We do better on courses and exercises and are to be found across the Army in demanding and high-performing posts. We have bags of interest at Sandhurst with about five officer cadets expressing an interest in the Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps for every place on offer. Soldier recruiting is another story, but we outper- form the rest of the Army and are reaping the dividends as Army- wide recruiting processes are sped up and streamlined, conscious that the proposition (of soldiering) is no longer well understood.
We face, then, a number of challenges as we enter the third decade of the 21st century – but also a great deal of opportunity. We are proud of our history and ready to live up to the standards set by those who have soldiered in the Royal Armoured Corps before us.