Британская армия
Британская армия.
The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and was controlled by the War Office from London. Today it is managed by the Defence Council and the Ministry of Defence.
As of April 2007, the British Army includes roughly 110,580 regular personnel and 38,460 Territorial Army members. The full time element of the British Army has also been referred to as the Regular Army since the creation of the reservist Territorial Army. The British Army is deployed in many of the world's war zones as part of a fighting force and in United Nations peacekeeping forces.
In contrast to the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force, the British Army does not include "Royal" in its title, instead many of its constituent Regiments and Corps are styled Royal [1].
Numerous military units were raised historically in British territories, including self-governing and Crown colonies, and protectorates. Few of these have appeared on the Army List, and their relationship to the British Army has been ambiguous. Whereas Dominions, such as Canada and Australia, raised their own armies, Crown possessions (like the Channel Islands), and colonies (now called Overseas Territories) were, and are, legally part of the UK, and their defence remains the responsibility of the National (i.e., United Kingdom) government. All military forces of overseas territories are, therefore, under the direct command of the UK Government, via the local Governor and Commander-In-Chief. Many of the units in colonies, or former colonies, were also actually formed at the behest of the UK Government as it sought to reduce the deployment of the British Army on garrison around the world at the latter end of the 19th century. Today, three overseas territories retain locally-raised military units, Bermuda, Gibraltar, and the Falkland Islands. The units are patterned on the British Army, are subject to review by the Ministry of Defence, and are ultimately under the control of the British government, not the local governments of the territories (though day-to-day control may be delegated to Ministers of the territorial governments). Despite this, the units may have no tasking or funding from the MOD, and are generally raised under acts of the territorial assemblies.
The basic infantry weapons of the British Army are the SA-80 assault rifle family, with several variants such as the L86A2 Designated Marksmans Rifle and the short stock variant, issued to tank crews. The general issue sidearm is the Browning L9A1, though a search is currently underway to find a replacement. Support fire is provided by the FN Minimi light machine gun and the L7 GPMG; indirect fire by 51 and 81 mm Mortar, as well as the UGL, mounted under the barrel of the SA80 rifle. Sniper rifles used include the L96A1 7.62 mm, the L115A1 and the AW50F, all produced by Accuracy International. In addition, some units use the L82A1 .50 calibre Barrett sniper rifle.
The British Army commonly uses the Land Rover Wolf and Land Rover Defender; with the Challenger 2 as its Main Battle Tank. The Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle is the primary APC, although many variants of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) are used, as well as the Saxon APC and FV430 series.
The Army uses three main artillery systems; the MLRS, which debuted in Operation Granby and has a range of 30 km: the AS-90, a self-propelled howitzer, and the L118, a 105 mm towed gun-howitzer, used primarily by lighter units and in support of the Royal Marines
The Rapier FSC Missile System is the Army's primary battlefield air defence system, widely deployed since the Falklands War; and the Starstreak HVM is a surface-to-air missile, launched either by a single soldier or from a vehicle-mounted launcher. The Starstreak fills a similar role to the American FIM-92 Stinger
The Army Air Corps (AAC) provide direct aviation support for the Army, although the RAF also assist in this role. The primary attack helicopter is the Westland WAH-64 Apache; a license-built, modified version of the AH-64 Apache that will replace the Westland Lynx AH7 in the anti-tank role. The Westland Lynx performs several roles including tactical transport, armed escort, reconnaissance and evacuation. It used to also offer the anti-tank warfare roll; it could carry eight TOW anti-tank missiles. The Tow missile system fit, for the Lynx was withdrawn from service by the MOD in December 2005, after the coming in to service of the WAH-64 Apache.
The Bell 212 is used as a specialist utility and transport helicopter, with a crew of two and a transport capacity of twelve troops.
The Westland Gazelle helicopter is a light helicopter, primarily used for battlefield scouting and control of artillery and aircraft.
The Agusta A109 is used for Special Operations Aviation, along with the Gazelle.
The Britten-Norman Islander is a light aircraft used for airborne reconnaissance and command, primarily in Northern Ireland.
