Being combat-ready for operations is our highest priority. The British Army is ever vigilant, always ready and steadfast in its commitment to the defense of the UK and its citizens. The Army on One Page - British Army website

This book covers the British Army after the Cold War and Operations Telic (Iraq, 2003-2011) and Herrick (Afghanistan, 2001-2014) as it transitioned from large, armored formations designed to fight on the plains of western Europe to the counterinsurgency operations that consumed the western world’s military from 2001 to the mid-2010s. The British Army, like its American counterpart, has been struggling against the peace dividends and counter-insurgency requirements to become smaller and more lethal in heavy warfighting against a peer enemy.

American author Richard Rinaldi (a former human resources specialist with the US federal government) has had a long-term interest in military history and has several military books to his credit, including several on British military subjects. These books led to close collaborations with British military experts. With this background, the author tediously researched the material for this detailed book. As with any transformation, the information sourced through open source (to include being on the inside with access to documents) can be confusing, contradictory, or non-existent. All the photos in the book are from the UK Ministry of Defence’s Imagery website, and are of amazing quality. Mr Rinaldi did an amazing job sorting through the administrivia, lack of solid information, and gaps in the journey as the British Army implemented Army 2020, getting interrupted by real world events, budget constraints, and technology and vehicle setbacks. The details are listed throughout the book’s 74 pages.

The Modern British Army Volume 1: The Path to a Future Soldier, 2010s and Beyond is a part of Helion & Company’s Europe@ War series, No. 44 (HEL1887). The 84-page book is complete with extensive photographs, technical details and specifications, and detailed illustrations, comprising the following ten chapters:

• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• An Editorial Note
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
  1. Command
  2. Army 2020 and Army 2020 Refine
  3. The British Army in the 2020s
  4. Royal Marines and the Royal Navy
  5. Joint Helicopter Command
  6. Army Element Joint Forces [Strategic] Command
  7. RAF Regiment and RAF Force Protection
  8. Miscellaneous Overseas Deployments
  9. Training Establishment
  10. British Army Ranks
• Sources
• Notes
• About the Author

The British Army has a long and proud history of service across the globe. The biggest challenge for all militaries is to train for the next fight, not the last one. This book highlights the British Army’s quest to define and structure the next fight, to be more lethal with smaller formations. Reference to the Future Soldier,

Future Soldier is about delivering a modern British Army that is fit for the challenges of the future. To become more lethal, agile, and expeditionary, an army able to fight and win wars and to compete successfully in the grey zone between peace and war. An army equipped with the right culture and leadership to sustain our reputation and moral foundation, and to make the Army a great place to be, for everyone. An army ready for the future, not the past.

A counterpoint was provided on the Army’s new direction,

Rather than ‘the best little army in the world’, it might be more accurate to describe the British Army as a small army with some world-class capabilities (in line with some of our European allies) and some of those capabilities are going to be very stretched indeed if the Army follows the pattern laid out for it in these proposals. While the British Army is often accused of preparing for the last war, in this case, it seems to be trying to avoid it…

The author does an amazing job of highlighting the difficulties of doing more with less.

For comparison, in 1984, the British Army undertook its largest ever exercise in Germany, Exercise Lionheart. That involved 131,500 troops (Regulars and reservists); over 60,000 of them moved by air and sea to Germany. That figure of 131,500 is, of course, larger than the entire British Army today, including the Army Reserve

Table 1: Army Personnel Strength 1 January 2023 and 1 January 2024 states that the British Army had 113,940 personnel in 2023, and 110, 030 personnel in 2024 (this includes Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Volunteer Reserve, and Other Personnel).

The British Army is smaller and have made several unit consolidations, moved units around, renamed forces, and assigned operational areas. For example, the British Army changed the name of the Territorial Army to Reserves, stood up Ranger units, Security Assistance Groups, and continues to have 1,300 personnel deployed short term in 55 countries. The Royal Marines and Commandos are included as the Army provides artillery and engineers for those forces.

Modelers will appreciate the plethora of high-quality color photographs that really make this book a valuable bench resource. The modern British Army is well represented with color profiles of Challenger 2 MBT (main battle tank), Megatron (Armoured Trials & Development (ATDU) updated Challenger 2), Scimitar, FV510 Warrior, FV432, Mastiff PPV (Protected Patrol Vehicle), Scimitar Mk 2, Ajax, Boxer, AS-90 (Artillery System for the 90s), Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), RCH-155 (Remote Controlled Howitzer 155mm based on the Boxer chassis), BvS10 Viking, Jackal, Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV), and helicopters to include Lynx Ah.7, CH-47 Chinook, and Puma. Color photographs also include 105mm towed artillery, landing craft, Commando Raiding Craft, AH-64E Apache, AAC Wildcat AH1, C-130 (and its replacement, the Atlas A400), drones and ceremonial units.

This is a great book for modelers, and anyone, who wants to understand the Modern British Army. The photographs are worth the price of the book, as is the Sources section with its weblinks to more photographs and information. The transformation covered in this book is detailed, well-researched, and serves as a great example for anyone who wants to learn more about the inner workings of the process. As an American who spent a career in the Army, this book triggered a lot of flashbacks to our own recent history of transformation. The author is to be congratulated on a job well done, and I for one, look forward to his next book, The Modern British Army Volume 2 - 2025 and Beyond: the Army the Nation Needs?

Profuse thanks to Casemate and IPMS/USA for providing the review sample.