Recording: The Utility of Land Power to the British State - Report Launch

During the Cold War, the threat of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe made the purpose for which land forces were optimised self-evident. Today, with the perceived failure of interventions in Libya and Afghanistan, and a more diffused threat, British land forces have struggled to evaluate the order of priority of the missions for which they must plan, train and equip.

A new RUSI report proceeds from the strategic interests articulated in the recent Integrated Review and considers where they may call for the capacity to draw upon the Armed Forces. The paper specifically evaluates where land forces can make a unique or indispensable contribution to these tasks. Finally, the paper seeks to establish a set of tests that can be used to assess whether the British Army is structured, equipped and ready to execute these tasks.

The report's author, Dr Jack Watling, outlines the key findings and some of the implications for the British Army as it experiments and modernises its capabilities in line with the recently published Future Soldier programme.