| United Kingdom Special Forces | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1987 (37 years ago) |
| Country |
 United Kingdom |
| Type | Special operations forces |
| Role | Special warfare |
| Part of | Ministry of Defence |
The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, as well as the supporting No. 47 Squadron.[1][2][3][4][5] In British freedom of information law, "special forces" has been defined as "those units of the armed forces of the Crown and the maintenance of whose capabilities is the responsibility of the Director of Special Forces or which are for the time being subject to the operational command of that Director".[6][7] The British Army and the Royal Marines also have special operations–capable forces that do not form part of the UKSF.[8]
The government and Ministry of Defence (MOD) have a policy of not commenting on the UKSF, in contrast to other countries including the United States, Canada and Australia.[9][10] In 1996, the UKSF introduced a requirement that serving members sign a confidentiality contract preventing them from disclosing information for life, without the prior approval of the MOD, following the publication of several books written by ex-service members.[11][12]
Formation[]
In 1987, the post of Director SAS became Director Special Forces. From that time, the director has had control of both the Army's Special Air Service and the Navy's Special Boat Squadron, which was renamed the Special Boat Service during the formation. The directorate has since been expanded by the creation of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group.[13]
In 2015, the Royal Marines reported that approximately 40% of all UK Special Forces personnel are recruited from the Royal Marines.[14]
On 1 September 2014, the two Army Reserve SAS regiments, the 21 (Artists) Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) and the 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) were removed from the UKSF and placed in 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade (1 ISR Bde) under the command of Force Troops Command.[15][16][17] Their role as part of 1 ISR Bde was to conduct Human, Environment, Reconnaissance and Analysis (HERA) patrols.[15][18] By April 2019, the two reserve regiments had returned to the UKSF.[19][20]
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
Component units[]
The following units are part of UK Special Forces and UK Special Forces (Reserve).
[]
- Special Boat Service[5]
- C Squadron
- M Squadron
- X Squadron
- Z Squadron
- Special Boat Service (Reserve)[21]
British Army[]
- 22 Special Air Service Regiment (22 SAS)[22]
- A Squadron
- B Squadron
- D Squadron
- G Squadron
- L Detachment (SAS Reserve)[23]
- E Squadron - not to be confused with E Squadron, 21 SAS
- 21 Special Air Service Regiment (21 SAS)
- A Squadron
- C Squadron
- E Squadron
- 23 Special Air Service Regiment (23 SAS)
- B Squadron
- D Squadron
- G Squadron
- Special Reconnaissance Regiment[1]
| align="left" valign="top" |
Royal Air Force[]
- Special Forces Flight, 47 Squadron[24][25]
Joint service units[]
- Special Forces Support Group[2]
- A Company
- B Company
- C Company
- D Company
- F Company
- G Company
- Support Company
- 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment[26]
- SBS Signal Squadron
- 264 (SAS) Signal Squadron
- 267 (SRR) Signal Squadron
- 268 (SFSG) Signal Squadron
- 63 (SAS) Signal Squadron (Reserve)
Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing[]
- No. 7 Squadron (Royal Air Force)[3]
- No. 658 Squadron (Army Air Corps, British Army)[3]
E Squadron[]
- E Squadron - a shadowy elite UKSF Squadron that works with the Secret Intelligence Service[27]
Special operations–capable forces[]
The Armed Forces have raised special operations–capable forces that will conduct special operations to train, advise and accompany UK partner countries' forces in high threat environments.[28] The special operations–capable forces will not form part of the UKSF.[8]
The Army formed the Ranger Regiment on 1 December 2021 within a new brigade, the Army Special Operations Brigade, established on 31 August 2021, that will take on some tasks traditionally done by special forces and work with partner forces.[29][30] The Ranger Regiment's battalions are to be restructured by April 2023.[29] The Chief of the Defence Staff has said that the Ranger Regiment will be similar to the United States Army Special Forces, known as the "Green Berets".[31][32] Two of the four Ranger Regiment battalions will be deployed to Africa, the third will focus on Eastern Europe and the fourth will be deployed to the Middle East.[33]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Special Reconnaissance Regiment, publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Elite special forces unit set up, BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "JSFAW - Responsibilities and Composition". http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafodiham/aboutus/jsfaw.cfm.
- ↑ "SAS(R)". Ministry of Defence. http://www.army.mod.uk/specialforces/30603.aspx.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The secretive sister of the SAS". BBC. 16 November 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1659585.stm. (SBS)
- ↑ Philip Coppel QC (2020). Information Rights: A Practitioner's Guide to Data Protection, Freedom of Information and other Information Rights (5th ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 633. ISBN 9781509922482. //books.google.com/books?id=TTXpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PAPA633.
- ↑
This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence v3.0: UK Parliament. Freedom of Information Act 2000 as amended (see also enacted form), from legislation.gov.uk.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Atlamazoglou, Stavros (20 April 2021). "For decades, US special-operations units copied the British, but now the tables are turning". Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/british-special-operations-changes-modeled-on-us-special-ops-units-2021-4.
- ↑ Secretary of State for Defence Geoffrey Hoon (14 January 2002). "Special Forces". House of Commons Hansard. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020114/debtext/20114-03.htm.
- ↑ Knowles, Emily (July 2016). Britain's culture of no comment (Report). London: Remote Control; Oxford Research Group. https://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=ba1f3001-4e2d-4fa1-9530-782079869bf8. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
- ↑ Evans, Michael (4 October 1996). "SAS troops ordered to sign contracts banning memoirs". The Times. p. 6.
- ↑ "SAS men are ordered never to write books". The Independent. 4 October 1996. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/sas-men-are-ordered-never-write-books-1356609.html.
- ↑ "Britain to double commitment to the war on terror with 'SAS Lite'". 17 April 2005. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1488020/Britain-to-double-commitment-to-the-war-on-terror-with-SAS-Lite.html.
- ↑ "'A CORPS OF SPECIALISTS' - A Careers Guide to The Royal Marines Specialisations". August 2015. p. 78. http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/careers-section-redesign/pdfs/20151027-_440-rm-career-guide-2015-r---specialisms.pdf?la=en-gb.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "The Artists Rifles - From Pre-Raphaelites to Passchendaele". Andover: Army Media & Communication. Autumn 2014. p. 21. http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/ADR004124_ARQ_Autumn_2014_web.pdf.
- ↑ Releasable Extracts of Service Inquiry into the deaths of 3 soldiers in the Brecon Beacons Wales, in July 2013 (Report). Ministry of Defence. 2017. p. 1.6 - 3. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652784/20170807_Brecon_SI_Report_V2_Unclassified_External_Release_Elements_Roundtripped.pdf. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ↑ Rayment, Sean (3 March 2013). "Revealed: nearly half of Special Forces could go in deepest cuts in 50 years". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9904772/Revealed-nearly-half-of-Special-Forces-could-go-in-deepest-cuts-in-50-years.html.
- ↑ "Force Troops Command - Overview and Brigades". British Army. 2014. pp. 11,32. https://britisharmedforcesreview.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/force-troops-command-overview-and-brigades.pdf.
- ↑ "Force Troops Command Handbook". April 2019. pp. 6,16–17. https://www.army.mod.uk/umbraco/Surface/Download/Get/10550.
- ↑ "21 & 23 SAS (Reserve)". https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/uk-special-forces-reserve/21-23-sas-r/.
- ↑ "Special Boat Service (Reserve)". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). http://www.army.mod.uk/specialforces/30604.aspx.
- ↑ Overstretched SAS calls up part-time troops for Afghanistan, www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2014
- ↑ "L Detachment - SAS". UK Elite Forces. https://www.eliteukforces.info/special-air-service/l-detachment/.
- ↑ "PLG Directive 73/07 Part 8, Restricted files - Administration Guide". Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA). December 2007. http://www.veterans-uk.info/pdfs/publications/guides/admin_guide/h_part8.pdf.
- ↑ Ripley, Tim (November 2015). "Order of Battle; Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing - The Royal Air Force in 2015 (Supplement)". Bourne, Lincolnshire: Key Publishing Ltd. pp. 12, 14. ISSN 0955-7091.
- ↑ Redshaw, Bernard (August 2005). "A New Royal Signals Unit". Portsmouth: Holbrook Printers Ltd. ISSN 1462-9259. http://www.army.mod.uk/linkedfiles/royalsignals/thewire/wire2005aug.pdf.
- ↑ "E Squadron". Elite UK Forces. 3 August 2022. https://www.eliteukforces.info/e-squadron/. "One of the most shadowy of all British special forces units, E Squadron is small cell of UKSF operatives hand-picked to work with the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), otherwise known as MI6."
- ↑ This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence v3.0: Ministry of Defence (March 2021). Defence in a Competitive Age. London: Ministry of Defence. pp. 12,46,68,69. ISBN 9781528624626. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974661/CP411_-Defence_Command_Plan.pdf. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 "Future Soldier Guide". 2021. pp. 17,71. https://www.army.mod.uk/media/15057/adr010310-futuresoldierguide_30nov.pdf.
- ↑ Ministry of Defence 2021, pp. 12,52,68,69.
- ↑ "New Ranger Regiment to be 'open to anybody in Armed Forces', CDS says". Forces News. England: BFBS. 1 April 2021. https://www.forces.net/news/new-ranger-regiment-be-open-anybody-armed-forces-cds-says.
- ↑ Mehta, Aaron (25 May 2021). "Why the UK is investing in a new ranger regiment". Defense News. Washington: Sightline Media Group. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2021/05/25/why-the-uk-is-investing-in-a-new-ranger-regiment/.
- ↑ Brown, Larisa (25 November 2021). "British Army's elite Ranger force to fight extremists". The Times. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-armys-elite-ranger-force-to-fight-extremists-5wcn2m3f9.
External links[]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The original article can be found at United Kingdom Special Forces and the edit history here.