Army 2020 Refine was the name given to the restructuring 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 ...

, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

Army 2020 Refine

The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 announced that the structure of the Reaction and Adaptable Forces would further change, in an evolution of the previous

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 ...

plan. The main changes of Army 2020 Refine were: *Creation of two new "Strike brigades", to be formed by converting an Armoured Infantry brigade and an Infantry brigade. These will be formed by 2025, comprising 5,000 personnel each, equipped with

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

vehicles. *The UK's 3rd division will, by 2025, comprise two armoured infantry brigades, a strike brigade, and a strike experimentation group (which would later convert to a second Strike brigade). *Creation of a

Specialised Infantry Group The Army Special Operations Brigade (Army Spec Ops Bde) (previously called the Specialised Infantry Group) is a formation of the British Army, initially created as a result of the Army 2020 Refine reorganisation, intended to train foreign force ...

, to be formed by converting four infantry battalions and creation of a new battalion and training cell. *Two innovative brigades were to be established, comprising a mix of regulars and specialist capabilities from the reserves, that were able to contribute to strategic communications, tackle hybrid warfare and deliver better battlefield intelligence.

Strike brigades & Armoured Infantry brigades

The armoured infantry brigades were reduced from three to two, as one was converted to a Strike Brigade. In a Defence Committee hearing, Chief of the General Staff Sir Nicholas Carter stated that "each of these trikebrigades will have two

AJAX Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

regiments and probably two

Mechanised Infantry Vehicle The Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) is the British Army's concept of an 8 × 8 wheeled vehicle. On 31 March 2018 the United Kingdom rejoined the Boxer (armoured fighting vehicle) programme in order to move to an assessment phase, which may see ...

(MIV) battalions as well". There was to be around 50 to 60 Ajax vehicles per Strike Brigade. A December 2016 written statement stated that the first Strike Brigade to form would consist of: *

Household Cavalry Regiment The Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR) is an Armoured Cavalry regiment of the British Army based in Bulford Camp in Wiltshire. It is the brother regiment of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR) based at Hyde Park Barracks in London - both ...

King's Royal Hussars The King's Royal Hussars (KRH) is a Royal Armoured Corps regiment of the British Army formed in 1992. Based at Tidworth it serves as the armoured regiment of the 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). Under Army 2020 Refine, it is intended to e ...

*1st Battalion,

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

* The Highlanders, 4th Battalion,

Royal Regiment of Scotland The Royal Regiment of Scotland is the British Army Order of Precedence, senior and only Scottish regiment, Scottish line infantry regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of three regular (formerly five) and two Army Reserve (United ...

Other units such as 1 Regiment RLC,

1 Close Support Battalion REME 1st Close Support Battalion, REME is a Combat service support unit of the British Army, British Army's Corps of Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Background Following the end of the Cold ...

, 3 Medical Regiment and 21 Engineer Regiment would provide close support to this Strike Brigade. 3rd Regiment,

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link ...

, and 4th Regiment,

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 ...

were to provide artillery support to the Strike Brigades.

Specialised Infantry Group

A total of five Specialised Infantry battalions, around 300 personnel strong: * Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion,

*4th Battalion,

The Rifles The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerly ...

*2nd Battalion,

Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (or PWRR, also known as 'The Tigers') is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Qu ...

*2nd Battalion,

Duke of Lancaster's Regiment The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is an infantry regiment of the line within the British Army, part of the King's Division. Headquartered in Preston, it recruits throughout the North West of England. The Du ...

*3rd Battalion,

Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the Unite ...

(formed in 2018)

Other changes

Several units were initially meant to be rationalised, with all manpower in those units being redeployed to other areas of the Army in its refined structure. These were originally: *Headquarters, 102nd Logistic Brigade * 35 Engineer Regiment *Headquarters, 64 Works Group,

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

* 2 Medical Regiment *Headquarters, 4th Regiment,

Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operation ...

*33 Field Hospital *104, 105 and 106 Battalions of the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

* 32nd Regiment,

However, 35 Engineer Regiment was retained and reformed as an explosive ordnance and search regiment. 32nd Regiment, Royal Artillery, was also retained in October 2019. The Scottish and

Prince of Wales' Division The Prince of Wales's Division was a British Army command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all land force units in the West of England and Wales. It merged with the Scottish Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish D ...

s of infantry merged, incorporating the

Royal Welsh The Royal Welsh (R WELSH) ( cy, Y Cymry Brenhinol) is an armoured infantry regiment of the British Army. It was established in 2006 from the Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Foot) and the Royal Regiment of Wales (24th/41st Foot). History The ...

and Royal Irish Regiment. This administrative division was called the

Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division The Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division is a British Army Infantry command, training and administrative formation for Scottish, Welsh and Irish line infantry regiments. History In 2016, following the further planned reorganization of the Army th ...

. The Mercian Regiment transferred from the Prince of Wales’ Division to the

King's Division The King's Division was a British Army command, training and administrative apparatus designated for infantry regiments in the North of England. History The King's Division was formed in 1968 with the union of the Lancastrian Brigade, Yorkshi ...

Field Army restructuring 2019

The

Field Army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

was restructured in July/August 2019 as set out below. *

1st (United Kingdom) Division The 1st (United Kingdom) Division, formerly known as the 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division and the 1st Division, is a division of the British Army. Divisional history (1809–1959) The 1st Division was formed following the disbandment of ...

** 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East **

7th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters East The 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team is a formation in the British Army with a direct lineage to 7th Armoured Brigade and a history that stretches back to the Napoleonic Wars. It saw active service in the Crimean War, the Second Boer War ...

11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East The 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade is a brigade of the British Army which is intended to train and assist foreign forces. In 2021, under the Future Army changes, the brigade was redesignated, formerly being the 11th Infantry Brigade & HQ ...

51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland 51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland is an Adaptable Force Brigade of the British Army. It is the regional administrative formation responsible for all the units of the Army Reserve based in Scotland and an Adaptable Force Brigade unde ...

** 8th Engineer Brigade ** 102nd Logistic Brigade ** 104th Logistic Support Brigade ** 2nd Medical Brigade *

3rd (United Kingdom) Division The 3rd (United Kingdom) Division is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as the ...

** 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade **

12th Armoured Infantry Brigade The 12th Armoured Brigade Combat team, formerly the 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade, is a regular brigade of the British Army which has been in almost continuous existence since 1899 and now forms part of 3rd Division (United Kingdom), 3rd (United ...

** 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade ** 1st Artillery Brigade **

101 Logistic Brigade 101st Operational Sustainment Brigade is a logistic brigade within 3rd (United Kingdom) Division of the British Army, formed from the Combat Service Support Group in 1999. The brigade is held in high readiness and is described as a "vanguard sup ...

25 (Close Support) Engineer Group 25 (Close Support) Engineer Group is an engineering group of the British Army's Corps of Royal Engineers. History The group was formed in 2014 under the Army 2020 programme. Current structure After the Army 2020 Refine, the group now has the f ...

** 7th Air Defence Group *

6th (United Kingdom) Division The 6th (United Kingdom) Division is an infantry division of the British Army. It was first established by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsular War as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army and was active for most ...

(formerly

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 ...

) **

1st Signal Brigade (United Kingdom) The 1st Signal Brigade, formerly known as the 1st Signal Group, is a brigade of the British Army. The group was first formed in 1968 as a result of the 1966 Defence White Paper which expanded support for NATO and the British Army of the Rhine. I ...

** 11th Signal Brigade ** 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade **

** 77th Brigade

References

External links

Army 2020 Brochure

Army 2020 July 2013 update

Regular British Army basing plan March 2013

Major British Army sites

Structure of regular British Army as given by AFF

Army Reserve changes and future basing

Partial information via FOIA on Army 2020 Refine Units

Army Information Sub-Strategy (2015 – 2018)

Future of the Army - British Army website
{{The British Army 21st-century military history of the United Kingdom