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The Strategic Defence Review (or SDR) was a policy document produced by the Labour Government that came to power in 1997. Then Secretary of State for Defence, George Robertson, set out the initial defence policy of the new government, with a series of key decisions designed to enhance the United Kingdom's armed forces. The Labour Party is a centre-left or social democratic political party in Britain (see British politics), and one of the United Kingdoms three main political parties. ...
1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Secretary of State for Defence is the senior United Kingdom government minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence. ...
Lord Robertson of Port Ellen George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, KT, GCMG, PC (born 12 April 1946, in Port Ellen, Isle of Islay, Scotland, Great Britain) was the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, between October 1999 and early January 2004; he succeeded Javier...
To the surprise of many two of the largest defence procurment projects were excluded from the SDR, the Vanguard class Trident submarines and the Eurofighter. However the Trident system was essential to maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent, a policy adopted by Labour, and was already nearing completion. Likewise the Eurofighter was nearing production and withdrawal would lead to loss of considerable investment and severe penalties from the partner nations. The Royal Navys Vanguard class of nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), each armed with 16 Trident SLBMs, includes four boats: Vanguard (S28), Victorious (S29), Vigilant (S30), and Vengeance (S31), all built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. ...
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multi-role canard-delta fighter aircraft, very similar to the US-German Rockwell-MBB X-31 prototype and designed and built by a consortium of European nations formed in 1983. ...
Summary
- Aircraft carriers
The current three Invincible class carriers are to be replaced by two new larger and more flexible aircraft carriers. These ships, designated Carrier Vessel Future (CVF) are to enter service in 2012 and 2015. - Mobility
To increase strategic transport four ro-ro ferries and four C-17 Globemasters were leased. The SDR also reaffirmed the need for a permanent strategic transport force and the Airbus A400M was selected in 2000. Since that time, with operational tempo increasing the seven year C-17 lease has been extended and it is reported that the RAF will purchase them outright at the end of the lease and operate them alongside the A400M fleet. - Royal Navy fleet
The surface fleet force was reduced from 35 to 32 frigates and destroyers, 25 to 22 minehunters and the attack submarine force was reduced from 12 to 10. The potency of the SSN force was increased by the decision to make all capable of firing the Tomahawk land attack missile (TLAM.) The SDR confirmed the purchase an initial batch of three Astute class submarines. - Nuclear deterrent
The maximum capacity of the Trident missile system will not be exploited. Approximately 200 warheads will be maintained, reduced from 300. Further the last batch of missile bodies will not be procured, with a total of 58 missiles. The patrols of the Vanguard class SSBNs will be limited to one vessel carrying a reduced warhead load of 48 (reduced from 96.) - Army
The British Army was reorganised, with the establishment of two deployable divisions in the UK and Germany. Another important move was the establishment of the spearhead 16th Air Assault Brigade which includes the Army's WAH-64 Apache attack helicopter force. A Joint Rapid Reaction Force was also established to provide the capability to deploy a Bosnia-sized force at short notice. The Army's size in Germany was to be increase but numbers increased by 3,300 overall. The eight tank squadrons were to be reduced to six larger ones, fielding 58 rather than 38 Challenger 2 tanks each. - Territorial Army
The TA was to be modernised and enhanced to make it more readily deployable and usable, primarily through greater integration with the regular Army. Total numbers were to be cut from 56,000 to 40,000. - Support helicopters
All of the services battlefield support helicopters (around 400) were combined to form the Joint Helicopter Command. - RAF fast jet force
The number of frontline aircraft was reduced by 36 (two squadrons) but the MoD reaffirmed their commitment to the Eurofighter. The SDR indentified the need for a replacement for the Tornado GR4 and initiated studies under the Future Offensive Air System project. The purchase of Meteor, Brimstone and Storm Shadow missiles was confirmed. - NBC defence
An integrated British Army and RAF force, comprising both regular and reservist elements would be formed to specialise in NBC defensive capabilities. This resulted in the formation of the Joint NBC Regiment in 1999. The Fleet Air Arm is the operational group of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships. ...
See also Hawker Siddeley Harrier The BAE SYSTEMS Harrier FA2 is the latest development of the Sea Harrier fighter/attack aircraft which entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1980. ...
The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the UK Armed Forces. ...
The Harrier GR5, GR7, GR7A, GR9 and GR9A are all Royal Air Force variants of the BAE Systems/Boeing Harrier II. The programme is a joint development between BAE and Boeing (initially British Aerospace and McDonnell Douglas). ...
Missing image RAF Harrier GR7 Joint Force Harrier is a defence proposal brought by the British Government as part of Strategic Defence Review. ...
The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ...
The Invincible class aircraft carrier is a design currently in use by the Royal Navy. ...
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a fighter plane currently in early development by Lockheed Martin (with partners Northrop Grumman and BAE SYSTEMS.) The primary customers are the United States armed forces and the United Kingdom (RN and RAF), but the Netherlands...
An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft. ...
This page relates to the future aircraft carrier for the Royal Navy. ...
The C_17 Globemaster III is a strategic airlifter manufactured by Boeing IDS, used by the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force. ...
The Airbus A400M (M for military) is a four engine turboprop aircraft designed by Airbus Military to meet the demand of European nations for a new military cargo aircraft. ...
The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile with stubby wings. ...
BAE SYSTEMS Artist Impression When completed, the Astute class will comprise the largest nuclear-powered attack submarines of the Royal Navy. ...
Ohio-class submarine launches Trident ICBMs (US Navy graphic) The Trident missile is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which is armed with nuclear warheads and is launched from submarines (SSBNs), making it a SLBM. The Trident was built in two variants: the I (C4) UGM-93A and II (D5) UGM...
SSBN is the United States Navy Hull classification symbol for a fleet ballistic missile submarine. ...
The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British military. ...
The 16 Air Assault Brigade (16 AAB) is a unit of the British Army It was formed as part of the defence reforms implemented by the Strategic Defence Review on 1 September 1999 by the merging of 24th Airmobile Brigade and elements of 5th Airborne Brigade. ...
The WAH-64 is a licence built version of the Boeing AH-64 Apache Longbow attack helicopter for the British Army. ...
General characteristics Length 8. ...
In the United Kingdom the Territorial Army is a part of the British Army composed of reserve units, or part-time soldiers. ...
The Tornado GR4 is a Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) used for low-level penetration to attack ground targets. ...
BAE SYSTEMS FOAS Concept The Future Offensive Air System is the system which will replace the RAFs strike capability currently provided by the Tornado GR4. ...
This article or section should include material from Meteor missile system The MBDA Meteor is a European long range air-to-air missile with radar guidance. ...
Brimstone test firing from Panavia Tornado The Brimstone missile is an advanced Anti_Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) developed by MBDA. The missile is a development of Boeings AGM-114 Hellfire is designed to meet the RAFs requirement for a long range anti-armour weapon, allowing strike aircraft to attack...
Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by MBDA and used by Britain, France, and Italy. ...
Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, or NBC is the term used in the armed forces of many nations to describe the measures taken to guard and decontaminate against nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. ...
The Joint NBC Regiment is a specialist unit of the British armed forces. ...
1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...
SDR New Chapter Following the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington the Secretary of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon announced that work would be undertaken on a New Chapter to the Strategic Defence Review. This reviewed again the UK's defence posture and plans to ensure that the country possessed the right capabilities and the right forces to meet the additional challenges faced after 9/11. The review concluded; The World Trade Center on fire The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. ...
Geoff Hoon (right) at Pentagon briefing The Right Honourable Geoffrey William Hoon (born December 6, 1953), the Member of Parliament for Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, was British Secretary of State for Defence from October 1999 until May 6, 2005. ...
- "We need to look further into how we should allocate the investment which is needed, including, for example, to intelligence gathering, network-centric capability (including enhanced strike and Special Forces capabilities and Unmanned aerial vehicles), improved mobility and fire power for more rapidly deployable lighter forces, temporary deployed accommodation for troops, and night operations. The significant additional resources made available to Defence in Spending Review 2002 will enable us to take this forward with the urgency that the 11 September demands." †
Special forces or special operations forces is a term used to describe relatively small military units raised and trained for reconnaissance, unconventional warfare and special operations. ...
Shadow 200 UAV flying over Iraq. ...
See also Options for Change was a restructuring of the British military in 1993, aimed at cutting defence spending following the end of the Cold War. ...
The 2003 Defence White Paper, entitled Delivering Security in a Changing World sets out the future of the British military , and builds on the 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the 2002 SDR New Chapter which responded to the challenges raised by the War on Terror. ...
The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majestys Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. ...
External links - Conclusions posted on the Ministry of Defence Web site
- †*†: Delivering Security in a Changing World - Crown Copyright
- †: The Strategic Defence Review: A New Chapter - Crown Copyright
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