United Kingdom Special Forces

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United Kingdom Special Forces
Active 1987
Country United Kingdom
Branch Tri-service
Role 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 Major General.

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] Roles and tasks

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

  • 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

[edit] Insignia

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

[edit] Special Force units

United Kingdom Special Forces
United Kingdom Special Forces

[edit] Army

[edit] Royal Navy

[edit] Support units

The UKSF is supported by a number of units:

[edit] Special Forces Support Group

[edit] Signals

  • 18 (UKSF) Signals Regiment
    • 264 (SAS) Signals Squadron, attached to 22 SAS
    • 267 (SRR) Signals Squadron, attached to the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR)
    • 268 (UKSF) Signals Squadron, attached to the Special Forces Support Group
    • SBS Signals Squadron, attached to the Special Boat Service
    • 63 (SAS) Signal Squadron, reserve unit attached to 21 and 23 SAS

[edit] Aviation

The Special Forces Air Wing provides fixed-wing and rotary-wing support to the UKSF. Four units of the Army Air Corps (AAC) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) are thought to have the task of supporting British Special Operations[1]:

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing (JSFAW)
    • 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 of the eight Chinook HC.3s (intended to be equivalent to the US Army's MH-47E Chinook) ordered in 1995, but not yet operational.
    • 651 Squadron (AAC), which uses Defender AL.1 fixed wing aircraft
    • 657 Squadron (AAC), which uses Lynx AH.7 helicopters

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.[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

British Army Portal
  1. ^ UKSF Air Support
  2. ^ Jon Lake, "Herculean service", Air Forces Monthly, September 2006 ; Tim Ripley, "The doomed Hercules", Air Forces Monthly, March 2006
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