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United Kingdom Special Forces

British Ministry of Defence directorate

British Ministry of Defence directorate

FieldValue
unit_nameUnited Kingdom Special Forces
image[[File:MinistryofDefence.svg100px]]
dates–present
countryUnited Kingdom
branchBritish Armed Forces
typeDirectorate
size2,000 personnel (2009)
command_structureStrategic Command
garrisonPermanent Joint Headquarters, Northwood Headquarters
garrison_labelHeadquarters
colors
colors_label
website
commander1_labelDirector Special Forces
notable_commandersGeneral Mark Carleton-Smith
<!-- Insignia -->identification_symbolUKSF
identification_symbol_labelAbbreviation

United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, "special forces" has been defined as "those units of the armed forces of the Crown the maintenance of whose capabilities is the responsibility of the Director of Special Forces or which are for the time being subject to the operational command of that Director". The Royal Marines and the Ranger Regiment are special operations–capable forces, but they do not form part of UKSF.

The government and Ministry of Defence (MOD) have a policy of not commenting on the UKSF, in contrast to other countries including the United States, Canada, and Australia. In 1996, the UKSF introduced a requirement that serving members sign a confidentiality contract preventing them from disclosing information for life without the prior approval of the MOD, following the publication of several books written by ex-service members.

Formation

In 1987, the post of Director SAS became Director Special Forces. Since that time, the director has had control of both the Army's Special Air Service and the Navy's Special Boat Service, previously the Special Boat Squadron. The directorate has since been expanded by the creation of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment, and the Special Forces Support Group.

In 2015, the Royal Marines reported that approximately 40% of all UK Special Forces personnel were recruited from the Royal Marines.

On 1 September 2014, the two Army Reserve SAS regiments, the 21 (Artists) Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) and the 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve), were removed from the UKSF and placed in the 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade (1 ISR Bde) under the command of Force Troops Command. Their role as part of 1 ISR Bde was to conduct Human, Environment, Reconnaissance, and Analysis (HERA) patrols. By April 2019, the two reserve regiments had returned to the UKSF.

Special Forces Flight, No. 47 Squadron RAF which operated the Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft was formerly part of the UKSF. No. 47 Squadron RAF was disbanded in September 2023 after the Hercules was retired from service in June 2023.

Component units

The following units are part of UK Special Forces and UK Special Forces (Reserve).

British Army

  • 22 Special Air Service Regiment (22 SAS)
    • A Squadron
    • B Squadron
    • D Squadron
    • G Squadron
  • 21 Special Air Service Regiment (21 SAS)
    • A Squadron
    • C Squadron
    • E Squadron
  • 23 Special Air Service Regiment (23 SAS)
    • B Squadron
    • D Squadron
    • G Squadron
  • Special Reconnaissance Regiment
  • 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment
    • SBS Signal Squadron
    • 264 (SAS) Signal Squadron
    • 267 (SRR) Signal Squadron
    • 268 (SFSG) Signal Squadron
    • 63 (SAS) Signal Squadron (Reserve)

Royal Navy

  • Special Boat Service
    • C Squadron
    • M Squadron
    • X Squadron
    • Z Squadron
    • SBS Reserve - R Squadron

Joint service units

  • Special Forces Support Group
    • HQ Company (Formerly D Company)
    • A Company
    • B Company
    • C Company
    • F Company
    • R Company
    • S Company

Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing

  • No. 7 Squadron (Royal Air Force)
  • No. 658 Squadron (Army Air Corps, British Army)

Special operations–capable forces

The Armed Forces have raised special operations-capable forces that will conduct special operations to train, advise and accompany UK partner countries' forces in high threat environments. These forces do not form part of UKSF.

The Army formed the Ranger Regiment on 1 December 2021 within a new brigade, the Army Special Operations Brigade, established on 31 August 2021, that will take on some tasks traditionally done by special forces and work with partner forces. The Ranger Regiment's battalions are to be restructured by April 2023. The Chief of the Defence Staff has said that the Ranger Regiment will be similar to the United States Army Special Forces, known as the "Green Berets". Two of the four Ranger Regiment battalions will be deployed to Africa, the third will focus on Eastern Europe and the fourth will be deployed to the Middle East.

The Royal Navy is changing the Royal Marines through the Future Commando Force concept, adapting their role of amphibious infantry held at readiness to a versatile special operations–capable force. As originally envisaged, the Marines were to be permanently deployed in two new Littoral Response Groups, with one in Northern Europe and the other in the Indian Ocean.

References

References

  1. (25 April 2009). "SAS and other special forces to be expanded to defeat al-Qaeda". the telegraph.
  2. [https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmhansrd/vo050405/wmstext/50405m01.htm#50405m01.html_sbhd5 Special Reconnaissance Regiment, publications.parliament.uk]. Retrieved 21 February 2014
  3. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4928028.stm Elite special forces unit set up, BBC]. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  4. "JSFAW - Responsibilities and Composition".
  5. "SAS(R)". Ministry of Defence.
  6. (16 November 2001). "The secretive sister of the SAS". [[BBC]].
  7. Philip Coppel QC. (2020). ["Information Rights: A Practitioner's Guide to Data Protection, Freedom of Information and other Information Rights"]({{Google books). Bloomsbury Publishing.
  8. {{OGL-attribution. {{Cite legislation UK. (2000)
  9. "Defence in a Competitive Age". Ministry of Defence.
  10. Secretary of State for Defence Geoffrey Hoon. (14 January 2002). "Special Forces". House of Commons Hansard.
  11. (July 2016). "Britain's culture of no comment". Remote Control; Oxford Research Group.
  12. (4 October 1996). "SAS troops ordered to sign contracts banning memoirs". [[The Times]].
  13. (4 October 1996). "SAS men are ordered never to write books". The Independent.
  14. (17 April 2005). "Britain to double commitment to the war on terror with 'SAS Lite'". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
  15. (August 2015). "'A CORPS OF SPECIALISTS' - A Careers Guide to The Royal Marines Specialisations".
  16. (Autumn 2014). "The Artists Rifles - From Pre-Raphaelites to Passchendaele". Army Media & Communication.
  17. (2017). "Releasable Extracts of Service Inquiry into the deaths of 3 soldiers in the Brecon Beacons Wales, in July 2013". Ministry of Defence.
  18. (3 March 2013). "Revealed: nearly half of Special Forces could go in deepest cuts in 50 years". The Telegraph.
  19. (2014). "Force Troops Command - Overview and Brigades". British Army.
  20. (April 2019). "Force Troops Command Handbook".
  21. "21 & 23 SAS (Reserve)".
  22. (December 2007). "PLG Directive 73/07 Part 8, Restricted files - Administration Guide". Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA).
  23. (November 2015). "Order of Battle; Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing - The Royal Air Force in 2015 (Supplement)". Key Publishing Ltd.
  24. (4 August 2023). "Standard of No.47 Sqn has been formally laid-up in ceremony at RAF Cranwell".
  25. (9 June 2023). "No. 47 Squadron mark the end of an era with a royal parade".
  26. Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. (2009). ["Who Dares Wins : the SAS and the Iranian embassy siege 1980"]({{Google books). Osprey Publishing.
  27. (August 2005). "A New Royal Signals Unit". Holbrook Printers Ltd.
  28. "Special Boat Service (Reserve)". [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)]].
  29. Ministry of Defence. (March 2021). "Defence in a Competitive Age". Ministry of Defence.
  30. (20 April 2021). "For decades, US special-operations units copied the British, but now the tables are turning". Business Insider.
  31. (2021). "Future Soldier Guide".
  32. (1 April 2021). "New Ranger Regiment to be 'open to anybody in Armed Forces', CDS says". BFBS.
  33. (25 May 2021). "Why the UK is investing in a new ranger regiment". Sightline Media Group.
  34. (25 November 2021). "British Army's elite Ranger force to fight extremists". [[The Times]].
  35. (23 March 2021). "Armed Forces to be more active around the world to combat threats of the future". Ministry of Defence.
  36. (22 March 2021). "Defence review will forge a growing Navy with expanding horizons".
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