Feature
Showing What The British Army Can Do
The British Army has been showing what its Lead Armoured Battle Group can do.
Troops have been taking part in a combined arms manoeuvre demonstration on Salisbury Plain.
Apache helicopters, RAF Tornados, Challenger tanks, various other vehicles and 300 soldiers have all been working together to display the capabilities of a lead armoured battlegroup.
Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ginn, of the 1st Battalion, the Mercian Regiment, said that the exercise serves two purposes:
"One, it acts as a reminder... that the British Army has the ability to project power... The battlegroup is where it's at for high-end war fighting. [Two], there are others in the world who will be looking at us, either as potential adversaries or as potential allies. We need to show that the British Army is still there [and is fully capable]."
Lt Col Ginn said that the equipment was far less important than the soldiers themselves, who are at the heart of any battlegroup's capabilities. It was a chance for them to practice readiness in Command, Intelligence, Surveillance and Battlegroup vehicle integration.
The 1st Battalion of the Merician Regiment provides the 1st Mechanised, or Armoured Infantry, Brigade with one of its armoured infantry units.
The brigade is part of the 3rd Division, the only one at continual operational readiness in the UK.
Other units in the 'Iron Division' are 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade, 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, and 101 Logistic Brigade.
Major General Patric Sanders CBE DSO, commander of the Division, said:
"This demonstration is designed to show... what best practice looks like in terms of combined arms manoeuvre... The purpose of the 3rd Division is to deliver high readiness reaction forces ranging in size from Battlegroup through Brigade and up to a Division".
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