Latest news with #LightGun
Times
28-04-2025
- Business
- Times
Gurkha unit created to ease army staffing woes
A new Gurkha artillery unit has been created amid a British Army recruitment crisis. The King's Gurkha Artillery (KGA) will include 400 Gurkha personnel within the Brigade of Gurkhas. A new Gurkha cap badge, the first in 14 years, has been created to represent the unit. Gurkhas, who are recruited from Nepal, will take up artillery roles for the first time. A third of the KGA will be recruits and the rest will transfer from existing units to build the rank structure. • Companies urged to hire more ex-military people 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 … This latest development will support retention efforts amongst Gurkhas while protecting and defending UK interests at home and abroad.' The recruits will finish initial training in November before going to Larkhill Garrison in Wiltshire, the home of the Royal Artillery, for trade training. Personnel who join the KGA will be trained on advanced equipment including the Archer and Light Gun artillery systems. Future training will include the remote-controlled Howitzer 155 artillery system. About 4,000 Gurkhas are serving across many trades in the British Army. Thousands of candidates compete annually for a limited number of places. The Ministry of Defence said that the KGA would become a key part of the British military's artillery capabilities. It would offer career development opportunities for Gurkha soldiers in recognition of their service to the UK, a spokesperson said. A defence source said that KGA troops would not be sent to Ukraine as part of a potential British contingent of peacekeepers. The new unit will help address a 700-soldier shortfall within the Royal Regiment of Artillery — within which the Nepalese soldiers will operate — and will also help bolster the army, which has suffered from a retention and recruitment crisis. • Army faces a perilous future, former chief tells new officers The army has about 71,300 people — the fewest since the Napoleonic era. Of these personnel, only 55,005 are considered fully deployable, meaning that they are able to serve without medical restrictions. The target for the army is 73,000 members. It is not the only force within the military struggling to recruit; the Royal Navy has missed its recruitment targets for sailors and commandos every year for more than a decade. Figures disclosed last October revealed that the navy had met only 60 per cent of its recruitment target in 2023, when 2,450 people signed up against a target of 4,040. John Healey, the defence secretary, has eased rules around recruitment to try and ease the crisis. One change means the military will accept cancer survivors for the first time.
Telegraph
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
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.'
