Smaller British Army still very capable, says Shropshire military expert

For more than 30 years, Charles Heyman, of Shrewsbury, has compiled the 'bible' of the British Army, detailing its equipment, organisation, and training.

And now it's out in its latest edition – the 13th – as 'The British Army Guide 2016-2017'.

And today Mr Heyman describes how our Army remains important during volatile global times despite being diminished in terms of size.

"I think the best way to describe the Army is that it's smaller in personnel terms, but still a very capable military force and the most capable in Europe," said Mr Heyman, a former army major who is now a freelance author and defence consultant.

"We are not a world power any more, but a major regional power," he adds.

"We probably have the largest defence budget in Europe – larger than France or Germany. We still have the ability to assist our allies the United States or other countries, wherever they need us.

The Army itself is the Government's insurance police. We need a capable army. Of course, that goes for the Royal Navy and the RAF as well.

"These three organisations don't operate in isolation.

"We are involved in something like 2,000 treaties of one sort or another worldwide. We guarantee the security of about 40 countries, including Nato.

"We have worldwide treaty commitments that we have to honour.

"There's no doubt whatsoever that right at this moment we don't actually face the threat of a major armed thrust coming across Europe.

"We have to try and craft our armed forces to be ready for just about anything, from low level terrorism, right up to high intensity warfare."

Mr Heyman says that he compiled the book from information gleaned from various sources, some of them published, and some from simply talking to people and listening in.

"I talk to people who are serving in the Army, Navy and the Air Force, and go to various briefings in London at the Ministry of Defence and other places," he says.

"I keep on top of things as far as it's reasonably possible."

The British Army has become more flexible as its size has diminished, with greater emphasis on reserve forces.

The Shropshire Star travelled to Gibraltar in October to follow volunteer medics from the Midlands who were taking part in exercises with the 202 Field Hospital unit of the Army Reserve.

As for capability gaps in the British military, Mr Heyman points to a number of areas.

"There's no doubt that our maritime reconnaissance capability is lacking. That's in the process of being put right with purchases of American aircraft," he says. "You could say that the Royal Navy doesn't really have enough frigates coming on line.

"From a British Army point of view there are probably two things that still really need addressing. One of them is communications. The enhancements to communications move so fast that it's very difficult for military forces to keep up with them.

"We also need to get some more light armoured vehicles on stream. They're coming – the Scout armed vehicle is coming. It's slow getting them into service."

Charles Heyman served in the British Army between 1962 and 1986, with tours of active service in Borneo, Cyprus, Malaysia and Northern Ireland.

Between active service tours he served as a Regimental Officer (commanding a Combat Team in Germany) and as a General Staff Officer in the Headquarters of the 1st British Corps. Before leaving the Army he spent two years as a lecturer in Defence Studies at the Royal Air Force College.

Mr Heyman has extensive experience in the Balkans, and during the recent campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan he has been a regular contributor to the BBC World Service, Sky News, National Public Radio in the USA and the Australian and Canadian Broadcasting Corporations.

During the past five years he has written articles for a variety of newspapers that include The Times, The Scotsman, Sunday Express and the Sydney Morning Herald.

* The British Army Guide 2016-2017 is published by Pen & Sword and costs £9.99.