New Gurkha artillery unit created amid Army manpower crisis
A new Gurkha artillery unit has been created amid the recruitment crisis engulfing the British Army.
The King's Gurkha Artillery (KGA) will include 400 Gurkha personnel within the Brigade of Gurkhas who will take up artillery roles for the first time.
The Telegraph understands that one-third of the KGA will be new recruits and the remaining two-thirds will be made up through transfers from existing Gurkha units in order to help build the rank structure.
Personnel who join the force over the next four years will be trained on advanced equipment, including the Archer and Light Gun artillery systems, which have replaced the AS90s that were gifted to Ukraine.
In the future, they will also train on the remote-controlled Howitzer 155 artillery system.
There is some speculation that the Gurkhas, who make up 4,000 in the brigade across various trades and are usually infantry soldiers, are being lent on in case troops need to be sent to Ukraine as part of the coalition of the willing's 'reassurance force'.
Earlier this year, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to put boots on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a peace deal being struck between Russia and Ukraine.
However, it is understood that if troops are sent to Ukraine, they will be deployed to the west of the country, away from the front line.
The move will help fill the 700-soldier shortfall within the Royal Regiment of Artillery, within which the Nepalese soldiers will operate.
It will also help bolster the Army, which, like the other forces within the military, has suffered from a retention and recruitment crisis.
In a bid to ease the recruitment crisis, John Healey, the Defence Secretary, has got rid of a number of requirements in order to boost the numbers joining.
This included allowing cancer survivors to sign up for the first time, as well as those who suffered from single episodes of non-complex PTSD and insomnia.
The first recruits of the KGA will finish initial training in November 2025 before going to Larkhill Garrison in Wiltshire, the home of the Royal Artillery, for trade training.
The Ministry of Defence said the KGA will become an integral part of the British military's artillery capabilities and added that the new unit will offer career development opportunities for Gurkha soldiers in recognition of their service to the UK.
For the first time in 14 years, a new Gurkha cap badge has also been created to represent the new unit and the expanded specialisms that the Brigade of Gurkhas deliver.
It comes after the Prime Minister announced he would increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP and pledged to raise it to three per cent by the end of the decade.
Alistair Carns, the veterans minister, said: 'The Brigade of Gurkhas has rightly earned a reputation as being amongst the finest soldiers in the world, and the formation of The King's Gurkha Artillery recognises the outstanding contribution that they have made, through their years of dedicated service.
'Our government is already delivering for defence through our Plan for Change, and this latest development will support retention efforts amongst Gurkhas while protecting and defending UK interests at home and abroad.'
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