The British Army in Transition: from army 2020 to the Strike Brigades and the logistics of future operations

The financial crisis of 2008 and the economic recession that followed forced the UK Government to adopt measures to reduce public spending in order to deal with a growing budgetary deficit and the UK's spiralling sovereign debt. Like most other departments, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) had to play its part, as well as tackling a massive funding gap in its equipment plan. While 2010's Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR)[i] and the National Security Strategy (NSS)[ii] have been criticised as lacking any real strategic intent[iii], they did at least attempt to tackle the MOD's budgetary problems. It also set in motion an ongoing programme of structural change, for both the MOD and the UK Armed Forces, that has continued after the publication of SDSR 2015[iv] and meant that the MOD has faced a difficult period – having to juggle the need to conduct major transformation, change the way it acquires defence capability, and restructure the armed forces while continuing to conduct operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. This paper aims to examine the impact of both SDSRs on the British Army, and takes a broadly chronological approach in doing so. It analyses the new 'Strike Brigade' concept and what that might mean for defence acquisition and the logistic support to future operations, while highlighting the questions still surrounding the outcome of the latest review.