Tier one or tier two force – is the British Army still among the best?



A retired commander has told Forces News the British Army would “struggle” to qualify as a Tier Two fighting force and “needs at …

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22 thoughts on “Tier one or tier two force – is the British Army still among the best?”

  1. This may be true, however, if there comes a time when the military is needed…you'll be shocked how fast it will improve. Dangerously quick, especially with the allies they have.

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  2. The money has been spent on aid including to China and this was the cross party dunce MP consensus. Even that was borrowed so interest is twice the size of the defence budget. Our parties are choosing candidates that are only strong on rhetoric and customer service skills but with little merit. They cannot provide the skill base to run our country and that in turn means there are not the finances – and of course there are the endless procurement debacles which could not be beaten if we went out to hire enemy nations like Russia, China, Germany or France to do the job – well in the last case….

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  3. I guess it depends which reg and bn you’re in.
    For me from what I’ve seen. The British Army is underfunded and undertrained and the vast majority would leave the next day for a normal job if they could

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  4. The question needs to be asked: What is the role of the British Military? Is it a fighting force or does it exist to make BAE Systems lots of money? Pick one.
    From my own experience, contracts were throttling our capability and “the tail is wagging the dog”.
    It amused me when the mainstream media talked about donating our aircraft to Ukraine. When we don’t even have the spare parts and the infrastructure to maintain them ourselves.

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  5. Throughout history, this has been a common problem in alleged democracies. Pretend leaders who have never served, and would never fight for their country, decide to starve the military of resources. They spend that money on their own pet projects, like art galleries, “sustainability,” and “the climate crisis.” But other countries see that weakness and build up their militaries until they become a serious threat. Maybe they rattle the sabre to get what they want, maybe they actually invade a neighbour. Then the cowardly politicians wet themselves and realize they need a bit of muscle after all. But it takes decades to repair the neglect, which our enemies know too well. Freedom is not free. If you are unwilling or unable to defend yourself, a thug or bully will take everything you have — including your freedom. It has happened many times, and will happen again.

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  6. We can’t make our own stuff. Pretty important in a war. Look at the shell shortage scandal of the First World War. Our industry is not ready for any type of confrontation.

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  7. I used to be in Military Police (TAVR) back in the 80s. We had old land rovers that spent more time in the local garage than with us, clapped out, clutches failed regularly. Even our Sterling sub machine guns were worn out. Not enough steel helmets to go around. Not enough webbing either. It really was a joke.

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