Page 51 - Cavalry Regiment
P. 51

                                4 EAGLE AND CARBINE
FOREWORD FROM THE COLONEL COMMANDANT OF THE RAC
 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 humil- ity, our achievements as a Corps – whilst 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 impossible 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vanished: we have largely withdrawn from Germany and have only nine regular Royal Armoured Corps regiments.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 shat- tered by its military resurgence and adventurism, in Georgia, Estonia and Ukraine, above all in the annexa- tion 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, equip- ment and our very raison d’être suffered 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 heavily 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 conven- tional capability to defend and, by that token, deter with resilient com- mand 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 popularized theories of hybrid warfare, it is often over- looked that the annexation was made possible by the direct threat, and eventual application, of fire- power. Thus, we must avoid the
mistake of prioritizing operations below the perceived threshold of armed conflict; we need balanced deter- rence, 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 10 years on equipment for the RAC – the equivalent of two new aircraft carriers. Ajax is enter- ing service now with the HCR in Bulford. It has an impressive 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 certain that our heavy armour force is out sensed, out acquired, out reached and under pro- tected. The Life Enhancement Program (LEP) is essen- tial 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 spectrum, the Light Cavalry Regiments, equipped with Jackal, con-
Lieutenant General Sir Edward Smyth-Osbourne KCVO CBE
 












































































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