[vegan ezra]

Hi , read this forum for a while and know theres a few lads on here that are either with the BA or were ..
im very interested in joining , one of the reasons an irish lad joins across the water is to go on operations in conflicts around the world and i guess to see action ,
ive been reading up on whats happening with the cutbacks and their lack of choppers and air carriers but i really cant make heads or tails of what this means for the future of the british armed forces
my question is will the cutbacks , downsizing and lack of vehicles and all that will that stop them from being deployed in the next few years ???
how does all this affect units like the paras and the royal marines ??? their the rapid reaction force so what does this mean for them as their supposed to be first in and that ?
im just asking because you would hate to join up go through all that training and go no where with it you know ?
anyone with decent opinions or with experience over there please post as this could end up affecting me joining or not
thanks

[IrishFeeney92]

Originally Posted by vegan ezra

Hi , read this forum for a while and know theres a few lads on here that are either with the BA or were ..
im very interested in joining , one of the reasons an irish lad joins across the water is to go on operations in conflicts around the world and i guess to see action ,
ive been reading up on whats happening with the cutbacks and their lack of choppers and air carriers but i really cant make heads or tails of what this means for the future of the british armed forces
my question is will the cutbacks , downsizing and lack of vehicles and all that will that stop them from being deployed in the next few years ???
how does all this affect units like the paras and the royal marines ??? their the rapid reaction force so what does this mean for them as their supposed to be first in and that ?
im just asking because you would hate to join up go through all that training and go no where with it you know ?
anyone with decent opinions or with experience over there please post as this could end up affecting me joining or not
thanks

I really dont mean to be a troll, and I apologise in advance, but you should never let anybody elses opinions influence what you want to do. the army is or could be a career for life. you have to make the decision for yourself.

[vegan ezra]

no need to apologize , i prob shouldnt have said that as my mind is made up and im just waiting to start now so ill be going regardless i just want to know what people think this means ? and how it will affect across the board ; BA/PARAS/ROYAL IRISH , RAF , NAVY/MARINES ? ..
ive heard some units will be untouched some wont ..
but basically what i want to know is will they be able to go overseas the way they did pre Iraq if they have to or are needed ?

[IrishFeeney92]

Originally Posted by vegan ezra

no need to apologize , i prob shouldnt have said that as my mind is made up and im just waiting to start now so ill be going regardless i just want to know what people think this means ? and how it will affect across the board ; BA/PARAS/ROYAL IRISH , RAF , NAVY/MARINES ? ..
ive heard some units will be untouched some wont ..
but basically what i want to know is will they be able to go overseas the way they did pre Iraq if they have to or are needed ?

http://news.sky.com/story/956309/arm...n-defence-cuts

Names all of the units that will be affected by the cuts! when are u thinking of applyin? god only knows whats in store operations wise, A friend of mine is in 2 Royal Anglian and he said they are "penciling in tours for 2015" so as for the withdrawing of combat operation from Afghanistan by 2014 I dont think it will happen quite as soon as we think, and it shouldnt!

[Victor]

Originally Posted by vegan ezra

my question is will the cutbacks , downsizing and lack of vehicles and all that will that stop them from being deployed in the next few years ???

Has any army complained it has too much equipment?

Let's exclude the right kind of equipment and maintenance arguments.

[golden lane]

rapid reaction....which will be the thing of the future......will have mixed eu forces i believe.........there are eu forces in the uk at present......

the army doesn't need to be so big.....

[vegan ezra]

cheers for the link feeney ,really ??? your buddy said they re goin in 2015 ? you keep hearing they re done in 2014 dont you .. who knows

i just said it because they keep saying they dont have aircraft carriers etc to protect the falklands so thought it tied in but ya fair enough

mixed eu forces ? theres eu forces in the uk at the moment ?
what do you mean ? sorry i know nothing about that so if you could fill me in

[IrishFeeney92]

Originally Posted by vegan ezra

cheers for the link feeney ,really ??? your buddy said they re goin in 2015 ? you keep hearing they re done in 2014 dont you .. who knows

i just said it because they keep saying they dont have aircraft carriers etc to protect the falklands so thought it tied in but ya fair enough

mixed eu forces ? theres eu forces in the uk at the moment ?
what do you mean ? sorry i know nothing about that so if you could fill me in

He said his tour is due in 2013-2014. Personally I think they should stay as long as they need to until the job is done, other wise the 422 deaths will have been for nothing, and the job is only half done. Theres still plenty of other places to go though! not to mention the excercies that happen between different countries. youll do loads of travelling dont worry!

[cruasder777]

Originally Posted by vegan ezra

Hi , read this forum for a while and know theres a few lads on here that are either with the BA or were ..
im very interested in joining , one of the reasons an irish lad joins across the water is to go on operations in conflicts around the world and i guess to see action ,
ive been reading up on whats happening with the cutbacks and their lack of choppers and air carriers but i really cant make heads or tails of what this means for the future of the british armed forces
my question is will the cutbacks , downsizing and lack of vehicles and all that will that stop them from being deployed in the next few years ???
how does all this affect units like the paras and the royal marines ??? their the rapid reaction force so what does this mean for them as their supposed to be first in and that ?
im just asking because you would hate to join up go through all that training and go no where with it you know ?
anyone with decent opinions or with experience over there please post as this could end up affecting me joining or not
thanks

Lack of choppers ?

They have over 700, the largest fleet outside the US, around 80 chinooks.

The reorganisation is about the army being more of a rapid reaction force, in and out quickly, instead of boots on the ground for long periods.

Hence the two Royal Navy helicopter carriers.


With the Middle East and Africa more unstable then ever, without doubt rapid reaction type operations will happen far more frequently then in the past.

In the coming years soldiering will get more and more high tec. With helmet mounted computer displays, soldiers will have a global positioning systems, a dead reckoner and map displays to increase his situational awareness, helmet displays, wrist-mounted displays, hand-held and laptop computers and communications systems etc.Clothing which will reduce the soldier's visual, radar and infrared signatures as well as providing personal temperature control and environmental protection.

35,000 sets of FIST kit are expected to be procured and the systems will be deployed by the British Army, the Royal Air Force Regiment and Royal Marines. FIST will enter service between 2015 and 2020.


......This stuff costs money.


http://www.army-technology.com/projects/fist/

[Donny5]

Originally Posted by cruasder777

Lack of choppers ?

They have over 700, the largest fleet outside the US, around 80 chinooks.

522, of which 46 are Chinooks, according to Wikipedia.

[cruasder777]

Originally Posted by Donny5

522, of which 46 are Chinooks, according to Wikipedia.

That does not include those in storage.


Wiki is wrong.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk...6908-21898887/

THE Ministry of Defence today announced plans to buy 22 new Chinook helicopters to increase air support on the frontline in Afghanistan.
The announcement came hours before a statement to the House of Commons in which Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth is expected to unveil deep cuts in other parts of the military budget.

Mr Ainsworth said the first 10 Chinooks would be completed in 2013, and the procurement would increase the UK's fleet of the heavy-lift helicopters from 48 to 70.

[Donny5]

Originally Posted by cruasder777

Wiki is wrong.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk...6908-21898887/

Well, that article is out of date,I'm afraid. The current fleet is 46, because they've lost two in Afghanistan since that was written, and the order for 22 more Chinooks has been reduced to 14. So we're left with 46 now, probably increasing to 60 starting sometime in 2014.

[Donny5]

Originally Posted by cruasder777

I would rather trust what the previous head of the MOD said rather then wiki thanks.

The article I linked to is the MOD's own site. I think you can trust its articles about the SDSR cut-backs.

[vegan ezra]

cheers for the replies
the only reason i really mention choppers was because of that time the royal marines bungeed themselves to an apache coz there was no other choppers around .. apologies

[OS119]

Originally Posted by vegan ezra

...but basically what i want to know is will they be able to go overseas the way they did pre Iraq if they have to or are needed ?

they will be able to go overseas in the future, just in a slightly different way.

very roughly, the capability is being shifted from a 'Heavy', armoured force that can fight tank battles, to a lighter, infantry focused force. there is however, a loss of permanancy - its very unlikely that Force 2020 could, as an example, maintain a 10,000 man force in Afghanistan for 10 years. that is, to my eyes, a deliberate political decision. British politicians have had their fill of long-term, large scale ground operations.

there are a number of reasons for the change in capability: firstly that on the balance of probabilities, the enemies of the next 20-30 years will be non-state actors rather than something akin to 3rd Soviet Shock Army, secondly that even if a state with large armoured capabilities does become an enemy, the UK's geographical position means that the homeland isn't threatened by that armoured capablity, and that while the best thing to kill a tank is a heavier, more powerful, more mobile tank, an AH-64 also sems to do quite well.

Force 2020 will be more deployable, and in my view more likely to get involved in numerous, small, short term operations that do not encompass nation-building - it will, interestingly, be less reliant on coalitions to help it fight wars. the C-17/A-400M/A-330 fleet will be better at airlift than any previous RAF airlift capability, and the 2 QE class carriers will be better at providing strike and CAS than any RN capability in the modern era.

i would not be that surprised to see a slow-down in overseas operations between the end of Afghanistan and 2020, for both political and capability reasons, but it'll be a slow-down, not an end, and when the new strategic capabilities come online, and the Army has been re-built/rested - both at about 2020 - i expect the RN and the Army to be blowing crap up, worldwide, in good fashion.