14.1 |
Military equipment (post-conflict)
106.
The
1998 Strategic
Defence Review (SDR) stated
the British Army would comprise
four
different types of infantry battalions:
•
9 armoured
infantry battalions;
•
6
mechanised battalions;
•
3 parachute
battalions; and
•
22 light
infantry battalions.47
107.
The 1998 SDR
stated that “deployable and mobile” forces, “but with
sufficient
protection
and firepower for war‑fighting” would be required for land
operations.48
108.
The Army had
an agreed requirement for a family of vehicles to replace
existing
medium
weight armoured vehicles, the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES)
programme.
109.
In May 2002,
AM Stirrup told the House of Commons Defence Committee
that
FRES was
designed to reflect the post‑Cold War era.49
It would
focus “much more upon
mobility,
speed and precision than upon heaviness and armoured defence”. It
would be
introduced
“in the latter part” of that decade.
110.
On 23 July
2007, an MOD note stated that FRES was designed to fill a
capability
gap by
replacing the Saxon, Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked)
(CVR(T)) and
FV430
wheeled and tracked vehicles.50
111.
FRES comprised
“five families”:
•
utility –
wheeled armoured vehicles, principally to provide protected
mobility;
•
basic
capability utility – vehicles that did not require the same
capacity,
protection
or mobility as the utility family and could therefore be
procured
more
cheaply;
•
recce –
tracked vehicles to replace the majority of the CVR(T)
fleet;
•
medium
armour – a new capability for a tracked medium weight tank;
and
•
manoeuvre
support – tracked vehicles for general armoured engineering
tasks.
112.
The programme
was expected to deliver over 3,500 wheeled and tracked
medium
weight
armoured vehicles (between 20 and 40 tonnes).
47
Ministry of
Defence, The
Strategic Defence Review: Supporting Essays,
July 1998.
48
Ministry of
Defence, The
Strategic Defence Review: Supporting Essays,
July 1998.
49
Fourth
Report from the House of Commons Defence Committee, Session
2001‑02, Major
Procurement
Projects,
HC 779, page
83.
50
Minute,
DCI(A), 23 July 2007, ‘The Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) –
Information Note’.
21