Britain's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Poland's Minister of National Defence Mariusz Blaszczak walk at an army base in Bemowo Piskie, Poland. /Arkadiusz Stankiewicz/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via Reuters
Britain is to restructure its army, with a new focus on robots and data, to improve its capacity to intervene around the world.
The program, called "Future Soldier," is the biggest restructuring in more than two decades. According to Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, the move will transform the army into "a more agile, integrated, lethal, expeditionary force."
The changes will mean "more of the army will be deployed across the globe more of the time," according to a blueprint published by the Ministry of Defence.
The document sets out the creation of a 1,000-strong Ranger Regiment that will be assisted by expert soldiers and conduct international missions with local forces.
READ MORE:
UK/France migrant crisis explained
Farmers and the methane conundrum
The new regiment will be based on the U.S. Green Berets, which supports the more advanced Delta Force and Navy Seals, which are equivalent to the British SAS and SBS.
The Rangers will be stood up on December 1 and form part of the army's new Special Operations Brigade.
Other parts of the plan will see British army tanks and armored vehicles return to Germany a year after withdrawing. Oman and Kenya will also be key locations in the strategy.
New threats
Speaking in parliament, Wallace said the army will shrink to 73,000 personnel by 2025 from a target strength of 82,000 – its smallest size since Napoleonic times – in a bid to save money. The reduction is 500 soldiers fewer than initially planned.
"Transformation on this scale – every single unit will be affected in some way by this change," Wallace told MPs.
"We must adapt to new threats, resist sentimentality and match our ambitions to our resources if we are to field armed forces who remain relevant and credible for the challenges of the future," he said.
The strategy will include an extra $11.46 billion in funding for equipment over the next 10 years.
Wallace said the restructured force "will be globally engaged with more personnel deployed for more time, employed in a new network of regional hubs based on existing training locations in places such as Oman and Kenya."
It would also, he said, be a "key contributor to NATO warfighting, capable of fielding divisions throughout the decade as we transition to the new capabilities for a fully modernized warfighting division by 2030 ... enhanced by state-of-the-art equipment, including upgraded tanks and digital network armored vehicles, as well as long-range precision strike, cyber and electromagnetic capabilities."
A key objective of the changes are to allow the UK military to "compete beneath open conflict" in the so-called gray zone between war and peace. This will involve countering attempts by hostile forces to use misinformation or cyber attacks to gain a strategic advantage.
As part of his Brexit strategy, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to develop a "Global Britain" policy that will see the nation expand its trade and influence across the world.