As Britain moves to an off-shore military role around the globe, Britain stands up Vanguard Strike Companies.
This is an interesting tip of the British spear:
Each VSC consists of about 150 Royal Marine and army commando personnel, as well as some Royal Navy amphibious ships to operate from. One VSC will be stationed in Bahrain (Persian Gulf) while the other will be working with the Norwegian military to deal with the growing Russian threat in northern Europe. ...
The VSCs will be wearing the new, distinctly commando, combat uniform. In the past the commandos simply adopted current army uniforms, weapons and equipment. That worked but the commandos noted that special operations troops in other nations had benefitted from developing combat uniforms suited to their particular tasks. These uniforms were distinctive and that seemed to improve morale as well.
Other innovations include training commandos to operate in smaller units, often as small as four men. Modern communications and navigation gear makes this possible.
Back in August Strategypage mentioned them, although they were larger then it seems:
Britain is forming two 300-strong Vanguard Strike Companies of Royal Marine and army commandos. Plus amphibious assets. They have a long history of raiding. One will be based in Bahrain and one will work with the Norwegians to counter the Russian threat. I assume the former is intended to counter Iran. The one working with the Norwegians could also work in the Baltic Sea in case the Russian threat moves against Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania rather than Norway.
It sounds like these units are the means of calling down the lightning bolts from Britain's carrier-centric fleet and possibly land-based air power to support a Thin Red Line ashore in support of allies.
Other British forces will shape the battlefield, as this decision indicates:
The SAS and other units in the Special Forces Group will likely work alongside MI6 to conduct covert surveillance operations against Russian spies and military units.
Those skills aren't just for Russians. And having VSC units as back up represents a lot of potential support if things get hot.
And to enable the local allies to exploit the battlefield shaping include Rangers:
The new tasks for the SAS will be complemented by the Rangers, the army’s new battalions of troops to advise partner forces around the world and go into battle with them.
The smaller and lighter British conventional ground forces are behind all that if necessary.
I'm unhappy to lose a major British land component. But I won't say this doesn't make sense for Britain. Perhaps they'll inflict a bleeding ulcer on their enemy.
