United Kingdom Special Forces

The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a Ministry of Defence directorate which provides a joint special operations task force headquarters. UKSF is commanded by Director Special Forces. The Special Air Service, Special Boat Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment, Special Forces Support Group, 18 Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing together form the UKSF.

Formation
UKSF was formed in 1987 to draw together the Army's Special Air Service and the Royal Navy's Special Boat Squadron, which was renamed the Special Boat Service during the formation, into a unified command, based around the former Director SAS who was given the additional title of Director Special Forces. The directorate has been expanded by the creation of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the 18 Signal Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group.

Roles and tasks
UKSF assets undertake a number of roles, with a degree of interaction and interoperability:
 * Counter-terrorism
 * Unconventional Warfare
 * Covert reconnaissance
 * Special reconnaissance
 * Direct action
 * Close protection
 * Counter-revolutionary warfare
 * Reconnaissance of the deep battlespace
 * Offensive operations in the deep battlespace
 * Battlespace preparation in transition to war
 * Infrastructure disruption
 * Capture of subjects of interest
 * Human intelligence (HUMINT) collection
 * Defence diplomacy
 * Training of other nations' armed forces

Units

 * Special Boat Service, Naval Service
 * C Squadron
 * M Squadron
 * S Squadron
 * X Squadron
 * Special Boat Service (Reserve), Naval Service
 * 21 Special Air Service (Reserve), British Army
 * C Squadron
 * E Squadron
 * 22 Special Air Service, British Army
 * 23 Special Air Service (Reserve), British Army
 * B Squadron
 * D Squadron
 * G Squadron
 * Special Reconnaissance Regiment, British Army
 * 18 Signal Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals, British Army
 * 63 Signal Squadron (Reserve)
 * 264 Signal Squadron
 * Special Forces Support Group
 * A Company (1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army)
 * B Company (1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army)
 * C Company (1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army)
 * E Company (RAF Regiment, Royal Air Force)
 * F Company (Royal Marines, Naval Service)
 * Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing
 * 7 Squadron, Royal Air Force
 * 657 Squadron, Army Air Corps, British Army