6.3 |
Military equipment (pre-conflict)
5.
The SDR set
out the UK’s “defence requirements in the period to
2015”.1
That
included
the UK’s defence priorities, the scenarios in which the Government
envisaged
deploying
military forces, and what this meant for the UK’s military force
structure.
6.
The SDR
explained that, “in the post Cold War world”, there was a greater
need for
the Armed
Forces to build an expeditionary capability because “we must be
prepared to
go to the
crisis, rather than have the crisis come to us”.
7.
A supporting
essay to the SDR about future military capabilities listed those
it
considered
“increasingly important”, including:
•
command,
control, communications and computers and
Intelligence,
Surveillance,
Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR);
•
transport
or lift capabilities because of “the trend towards force
projections
operations,
for which we may need to deploy very rapidly in order to
be
successful”;
•
combat
service support (logistics, equipment and medical support), which
was
“key to
sustaining deployed operations, particularly those of significant
duration”;
and
•
“protection
against chemical and biological weapons” which was
described
as
critically important in some of the regions in which we are likely
to have to
operate,
such as the Gulf”.2
8.
The SDR was
explicit in envisaging the UK operating in a number of areas,
including
the Gulf
region. It stated:
“We have
particularly important national interests and close friendships in
the Gulf
… There are
already significant sources of instability in these regions –
including the
continuing
threat represented by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq … These dangers
seem
unlikely to
diminish and may grow. Many of our Allies and Partners have
similar
important
interests and friendships in these areas. We would therefore expect
to
work with
them in responding to any future crises.”3
“Outside
Europe, the greatest risks to our national economic and political
interest –
and
probably to international stability – will remain in the Gulf …
this Mission may
involve
major combat operations … Such operations also impose
demanding
requirements,
for example, in relation to strategic transport for deployment
and
supply, and
to command and control … In operational terms, the most
demanding
individual
scenario against which we must now plan is no longer all-out war
in
1
Ministry of
Defence, Strategic
Defence Review, July
1998.
2
Ministry of
Defence, Strategic
Defence Review: Supporting Essays, July
1998.
3
Ministry of
Defence, Strategic
Defence Review, July
1998.
3