United Kingdom Special Forces

The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a UK Ministry of Defence Directorate which also has the capability to provide a Joint Special Operations Task Force Headquarters. UKSF is commanded by Director Special Forces (DSF), a Brigadier.

Formation

UKSF was formed in 1987 to draw together the Army's Special Air Service (SAS) and the Special Boat Squadron Royal Marines (SBS), which was renamed the Special Boat Service at the same time, into a unified command, based around the former Director SAS who was given the additional title of Director Special Forces. The Directorate has been expanded by the creation of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group.

Roles and tasks

UKSF assets undertake a number of roles, with a degree of interaction and interoperability:

Counter Terrorism

Covert reconnaissance
Special reconnaissance
Offensive action or capture

Close Protection
Counter Revolutionary Warfare
Reconnaissance of the deep battlespace
Offensive operations in the deep battlespace
Battlespace preparation in Transition to War
Infrastructure disruption
Capture of subjects of interest
Human intelligence (HUMINT) collection
Defence Diplomacy

Training of other nations armed forces

Insignia

The badge of each UKSF unit shares a representation of the Sword of Damocles (or Excalibur) in common.

Special forces units

File:Sas badge.gif

SAS insignia

File:SBS badge.gif

SBS insignia

File:SRR.jpg

SRR insignia

Special Air Service

The SAS is the largest special forces organisation of the British Armed Forces, listed in the British Army Order of Precedence as an infantry regiment (although it uses terminology more associated with the cavalry - it has "regiments", "squadrons" and "troops" as opposed to battalions, companies and platoons, and private soldiers are called "Troopers"). One of the most famous military organisations in the world it is recognised to have had outstanding success in many operations, world-wide. The SAS was formed by David Stirling in July 1941 to conduct raids behind German lines in North Africa^[1] and today serves as a model for similar units fielded by many other countries^[2].

The SAS regiment is the most secretive in the British Army due to the nature of its employment, but attracts a disproportionate amount of media coverage. The service comprises one regular army regiment and two reserve regiments in the Territorial Army (TA):

Special Boat Service

The SBS is a naval special forces unit predominantly manned by Royal Marines^[3]. Formerly recruiting solely from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, the SBS now accepts applications from all branches of the armed forces who must first complete UKSF selection before being permitted to attempt SBS selection^{[citation needed]}.

The regular SBS is a battalion-sized formation and is supported by a reserve formation, the (SBS(R)), which provides individual reservists to support the regular service^{[citation needed]}.

Special Reconnaissance Regiment

The SRR is a special forces regiment of the British Army which recruits men and women from all three armed services^[4]. The regiment is trained to conduct special reconnaissance, relating to covert surveillance missions worldwide^[5], predominantly in a counter-terrorist posture in support of both special and conventional force tasking.

Support units

The UKSF is supported by a number of units:

Special Forces Support Group

File:Special Forces Support Group.jpg

SFSG insignia

The SFSG is a unit of the United Kingdom Special Forces whose primary task is to provide dedicated light infantry support to SF Operations. Because of a perceived similarity to the US Army Rangers, the unit was initially dubbed the British Rangers. The formation is battalion-sized, and comprises 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, one company of Royal Marines and elements of the RAF Regiment.

Signals

Signals support is provided by 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment, 63 (SAS) Signals Squadron (Volunteers) of the Territorial Army, and by a Royal Marines signals troop.

Aviation

The Special Forces Air Wing provides fixed-wing and rotary-wing support to the UKSF.

Several units of the Army Air Corps (AAC) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) are believed to be tasked with supporting British Special Operations^[6] :

8 Flight Army Air Corps, which has four Agusta A109A helicopters and two Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters. The aircraft are painted in civilian colours (which are regularly changed) and are rumoured to be used in counter-terrorist missions.

657 Squadron (AAC), which uses Lynx AH.7 helicopters

The SF flight of 7 Squadron (RAF), uses Chinook HC.2 heavy-lift helicopters (equivalent to the CH-47D Chinook). This squadron took part in Operation Barras in 2000, and is earmarked as the operator the eight Chinook HC.3s (intended to be equivalent to the US Army's MH-47E Chinook) ordered in 1995, but not yet operational.

The "SF Flight" of 47 Squadron (RAF), operating special forces versions of the C-130 Hercules. These are six Hercules C.1 (C-130K), modified after the Falklands War (an RWR and AN/ALQ-157 infra-red countermeasures device were added); two have been lost.

Six Hercules C.3 (C-130H-30), upgraded in C.3A standard (with more countermeasures and navigation systems), were added to the "SF Flight" because of SF needs after September 11, 2001 attacks]]^[7]

References

^ Ken Connor, Ghost Force: The Secret History of the SAS, Orion Books, 1999, p.10-11
^ Special Air Service#Other Special Forces based on the SAS
^ Adrian Weale, Secret Warfare: Special Operations Forces from the Great Game to the SAS, Coronet Books, 1997, p.242-3
^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4412907.stm accessed 26 July 2006
^ Hansard 6 April 2005 This regiment has been formed to meet a growing worldwide demand for special reconnaissance capability. Consistent with the SDR new chapter, this regiment will provide improved support to expeditionary operations overseas and form part of the defence contribution to the Government's comprehensive strategy to counter international terrorism. The SRR will bring together personnel from existing capabilities and become the means of the further development of the capability.
^ http://www.eliteukforces.info/air-support/
^ Jon Lake, "Herculean service", Air Forces Monthly, September 2006 ; Tim Ripley, "The doomed Hercules", Air Forces Monthly, March 2006

[1] Ken Connor, Ghost Force: The Secret History of the SAS, Orion Books, 1999, p.10-11

[2] Special Air Service#Other Special Forces based on the SAS

[3] Adrian Weale, Secret Warfare: Special Operations Forces from the Great Game to the SAS, Coronet Books, 1997, p.242-3

[4] ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4412907.stm accessed 26 July 2006

[5] Hansard 6 April 2005 This regiment has been formed to meet a growing worldwide demand for special reconnaissance capability. Consistent with the SDR new chapter, this regiment will provide improved support to expeditionary operations overseas and form part of the defence contribution to the Government's comprehensive strategy to counter international terrorism. The SRR will bring together personnel from existing capabilities and become the means of the further development of the capability.

[6] ttp://www.eliteukforces.info/air-support/

[7] Jon Lake, "Herculean service", Air Forces Monthly, September 2006 ; Tim Ripley, "The doomed Hercules", Air Forces Monthly, March 2006

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