Yes, I've seen that. I was surprised that the officer's superiors allowed him to publicly criticise the weapon. This tells me all is not well with the program.

Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it. Do comment if you think I missed anything important.

The two primary combat divisions are supported by Field Army Troops, Home Command, and Joint Command. This structure is achievable within the current headcount cap of 73K. If we want the Regular Army to be deployable without relying on the Army Reserve, it needs an extra 4K personnel or Ideally 80K.

So there's an urgent need for a new generation of low-cost, easy-to-produce modular combat vehicles with improved protection and cross-country performance. This was the intention behind vehicles like Boxer. Unfortunately, the armies who bought them could not resist adding complexity and cost.

The only type of vehicles that can be manufactured quickly are the new breed of MRAPs that have appeared over the last decade. While these offer Level 2 or 3 protection, they are not as survivable as MBTs and IFVs, are much less capable off-road, and cannot mount large weapons.

It's fair to say that European armies with smaller combat vehicle fleets will generally be used-up within 3 to 6 months of constant operational use. The trouble with the gold-plated armoured platforms we have today is that they cannot be easily, quickly or inexpensively replaced.

The AR infantry units in armoured and mechanised brigades provide battlefield casualty replacements. These are needed because high end warfare will the losses sustained in recent conflicts look like a picnic.

Ukraine shows that engineers are vital for clearing obstacles, especially in urban areas. Each brigade needs its own Close Support Regt. with mine clearance, digging, demolition, and bridging capabilities. You also need Force Support Regts with heavy bridging. This quickly adds up to more units.

It's not adding more battalions, but simply retaking the Security Force Assistance battalions as regular infantry. We presently have 32 battalions, but 8 of these are Ranger, SFA or SFSG battalions, which means we effectively have just 23 proper battalions. This is shameful.

I believe HIMARS is essential for 1st (UK) Division as it offers utility across high end war fighting tasks, but can also be used for precision strikes for counter-insurgency operations. I see HIMARS plus 120 mm mortars as the ideal replacement for the 105 mm might gun.