1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade (1 ISR Bde) of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

was created as part of the

Army 2020 Army 2020, was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Background The British Government gave an indication of its proposals for the future structure of the Army in ea ...

reform, to command

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

ISTAR ISTAR stands for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing t ...

, and

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

units.

Brigade

Under the Army 2020 programme, a larger emphasis was placed on cyber and specialist capabilities. As part of this reorganisation, the 1st Military Intelligence Brigade and

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

Regiments were merged with the addition of the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

and the two reserve Special Air Service Regiments (SAS) into the 1st Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade. The new brigade was stood up on 1 September 2014 at

Upavon Upavon is a rural village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. As its name suggests, it is on the upper portion of the River Avon which runs from north to south through the village. It is on the north edge of Salisbury Plain ...

and placed under

Force Troops Command Force Troops Command was a combat support and combat service support command of the British Army. Its headquarters was at Upavon, Wiltshire. It was formed in 2013 as a re-designation of the previous Headquarters Theatre Troops. Force Troops Comma ...

Group

Under the Future Soldier programme announced on 25 November 2021, the brigade will be reduced to a Colonel's Command, be renamed Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group and transfer from 6th Division to 'Field Army Troops'. The role of the group is to be to command the Army's miniature UAS, tactical UAS, counter-intelligence, and reach back intelligence capabilities, the Specialist Group Military Intelligence, and Land Intelligence Fusion Centre. It will also command the Land Image Intelligence Company, a pool of experts who deliver image analysis for all the Army's image collection platforms.

Structure

*Headquarters, 1st Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Brigade, at Trenchard Lines, Upavon *

14 Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare) The 14th Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare) is a part of the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals. The regiment's role is to provide electronic warfare (EW) capability in support of deployed Land Commanders, in order to enable operations in ...

, Royal Corps of Signals, at

Cawdor Barracks Cawdor Barracks is a British Army installation located east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire and south west of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was an operational airfield between 1944 and 1992, being used by both the Royal Air Force (when it ...

Brawdy Brawdy ( cy, Breudeth) is a village and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Etymology The Welsh language name appears to be an archaic form of "Bridget" and the parish may originally have been Llanfreudeth. The English name is a corruption of the ...

* 2nd Military Intelligence (Exploitation) Battalion, Intelligence Corps, at Trenchard Lines, Upavon * 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps , in Hackney * 4th Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, at Ward Barracks,

Bulford Camp Bulford Camp is a military camp on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Established in 1897, the site continues in use as a large British Army base. The camp is close to the village of Bulford and is about northeast of the town of Amesbury. Th ...

* 6th Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps , in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

– paired with 2 Military Intelligence Battalion * 7th Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps , in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

– paired with 4 Military Intelligence Battalion *

32 Regiment Royal Artillery 32 Regiment Royal Artillery ("The Wessex Gunners") is a regiment in the Royal Artillery, part of the British Army and is equipped with the Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk III and PUMA 2 miniature unmanned aerial vehicles. 32nd Regiment is the only R ...

, at Roberts Barracks,

Larkhill Garrison Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about west of the centre of Durrington village and north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about north of Salisbury. The settlement ...

(UAV operations, with

Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk III The Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk III (DHIII) is a miniature UAV designed by the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in 2006 for use by modern militaries. It is a small surveillance drone, which is mainly used by the United Kingdom, but has also been used ...

)Ministry of Defence, ''List of units, formations, and equipment of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom''. Ministry of Defence, London. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 10 November 2021. *

The Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

, at

Finsbury Barracks The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...

(Surveillance & Target Acquisition) – paired with 5 Regiment Royal Artillery * Specialist Group Military Intelligence, at

Denison Barracks Denison Barracks is a military installation at Hermitage in Berkshire, England. History The site was used as an American military hospital during the Second World War and became the home of Royal School of Military Survey in 1949. The barracks w ...

, Hermitage * Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage * Defence Cultural and Linguistic Support Unit, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage

On Formation in 2014

Headquarters 1st Intelligence and Surveillance Brigade, at

Trenchard Lines Royal Air Force Upavon or RAF Upavon is a former RAF station in Wiltshire, England. It was a grass airfield, military flight training school, and administrative headquarters of the Royal Air Force. The station opened in 1912 and closed in 1993, ...

* 14 Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare), Royal Corps of Signals, at Cawdor Barracks, Brawdy * 1 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, at Bourlon Barracks, Catterick Garrison * 2 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, at Trenchard Lines, Upavon * 3 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps), in Hackney, London – paired with 1 MI Bn * 4 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, at Ward Barracks, Bulford Camp * 5 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, in Edinburgh – paired with 1 MI Bn * 6 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, in Manchester – paired with 2 MI Bn * 7 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, in Bristol – paired with 4 MI Bn * 5th Regiment, Royal Artillery, at Marne Barracks, Catterick Garrison * 32 Regiment, Royal Artillery, at Roberts Barracks, Larkhill Garrison (Mini UAS)Ministry of Defence, ''List of units, formations, and equipment of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom''. Ministry of Defence, London. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 November 2021. * 47 Regiment, Royal Artillery, at Horne Barracks, Larkhill Garrison (Tactical UAVs) * 104 Regiment, Royal Artillery, in Newport (Mini UAS) – paired with 32 & 47 Regiments RA *

, at Finsbury Barracks, Finsbury, City of London * 21(Artists)(Reserve) SAS Regiment, at

Albany Barracks Albany Barracks (formerly Parkhurst Barracks) was a military installation on the Isle of Wight. History Construction of the barracks, which were originally named Parkhurst Barracks after the forest where they were located, was completed in Septe ...

Regents Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwe ...

, London * 23(Reserve) SAS Regiment, at

Kingstanding Kingstanding is an area in north Birmingham, England. It gives its name to a ward in the Erdington council constituency. Kingstanding ward includes the areas; Perry Common, Witton Lakes and Wyrley Birch. The other part of Kingstanding falls ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

* Specialist Group Military Intelligence, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage * Defence Cultural Specialist Unit, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage * Land Intelligence Fusion Centre, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage

References

External links

1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade Website
{{Current British brigades __FORCETOC__ Brigades of the British Army Military intelligence units and formations of the United Kingdom Military intelligence brigades Army 2020 Military units and formations established in 2014 Organisations based in Wiltshire Army reconnaissance units and formations