Helion and Co.- The Modern British Army

Vol. 1- The Path to Future Soldier, 2010s and Beyond

Book Specifics

Author:  Richard A. Rinaldi

Price: $29.95

ISBN: 978-1-804515-85-3

Softcover, 74 Pages, 8.3 x 11.7 in, 80 color photos, 22 color profiles, 3 diagrams, 4 tables

What's Inside

The Europe@War series provides excellent outlooks at various aspects of modern armies and conflicts to give the reader insight into the current state of things. After the end of the Cold War, it seemed cost-cutting and downsizing was the order of the day for many countries. Reductions of personnel and equipment as a means of saving money have led to an increased reliance on unmanned aerial and ground vehicles (UAVs and UGVs) in the modern battlefield. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown an evolution in counter-insurgency tactics. The current war between Russia and the Ukraine have awakened caution and America's increasing tendency towards isolation have left the European Union to look to its future now more than ever as it contends with threats both foreign and domestic.

This book is an excellent view into how the British Army is looking to adapt and counter any future threats. Programs to update current equipment like the Challenger 2 face delays and cancellations and development of new technology face cost overruns as the actual decreases in current ranks have led to seeing all military branches facing challenges. This book provides an extensive and detailed current order of battle for Britain’s ground forces and supporting elements across all branches of the Armed Forces. Excellent color photos and over 20 custom profiles of vehicles illustrate this. The book is broken down into the following sections:

• Introduction
• Command
• Army 2020 and Army 2020 Refine
• The British Army in the 2020s
• Royal Marines and the Royal Navy
• Joint Helicopter Command
• Army Element Joint Forces (Strategic) Command
• RAF Regiment and RAF Force Protection
• Miscellaneous Overseas Deployments
• Training Establishment
• British Army Ranks

Command gives a thorough overview of the current command structure of Army Command, the Ministry of Defence and Defence Organization, and Joint Commands.

Army 2020 and Army 2020 Refine covers the various reassignments and reordering that was going on in the early 2010s and how to best refine the decreasing numbers of troops into the most effective fighting force. A gold of Army 2020 was to bring forces home from stations in Germany, but a major effort in erecting the necessary housing and base infrastructure to accommodate these forces was costly. In 2021, the Defence in a Competitive Age document was released to address future investments in new vehicles like the Ajax, Boxer, and Challenger 3- while seeing a further cut in personnel strength. Army 2020, Army 2020 Refine and Defence in a Competitive Age have all been replaced by Future Soldier which the chapter ends on discussing.

The British Army in the 2020s is by far the largest chapter in the book and looks at personnel strength, key items of equipment 2021-2022 (with an excellent two-page chart listing items, quantities, and detailed notes for AFVs, Protected mobility vehicles, APCs, Artillery, Combat engineering and support equipment, rotary wing aircraft, and UASs ), and breakdowns of the major brigades and divisions. The reader gets a sense of the constant reordering, absorbing of one unit type into another, and other means of restructuring as they read through this chapter. Included in this section are the color profiles- 15 of vehicles drawn by David Bocquelet, 3 of helicopters by Rolando Ungolin, and 4 of soldier uniforms by Renato Delmaso.

The remainder of the book goes into detail on other parts of the British arsenel- including ships, helicopters, floating platforms, and training schools in great deal. For those of you building Takom's non-armor kits, this would be a good place to get some reference photos for Apache builds and the like. There is a small piece on the Viking armoured vehicles- but not much else for armor folks in the last bit. Excellent color photographs abound in the book.

Conclusion

If modern British military equipment is in your wheelhouse, this book is a worthy pick up. The photos are vivid and the profiles feature some colorful options including the British flag themed Boxer on the rear cover. To gain a current sense of the state of the modern British Army, this is a pretty thorough read to gain some insight. 

Highly Recommended for those interested in current British armaments.

Thanks goes out to Casemate Publishers for this review sample.

Reviewed by Michael Reeves

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