DEFENCE

Colonel de Bretton-Gordon who commanded the 1st Royal Tank Regiment has written on the new concept of warfare known as “Recce-Strike”.

The former commander, and now a writer and author, says the British Army has finally planted its flag in the ground over the future of land warfare, embracing the Recce-Strike doctrine laid out in the Ministry of Defence’s 2025 Strategic Defence Review (SDR).

In many respects, this is being seen as one of the most important conceptual shifts in British military thinking since the end of the Cold War. Crucially, it recognises the brutal realities of modern combat, witnessed daily on the battlefields of Ukraine, where drones, sensors, and rapid precision strikes have fundamentally changed warfare.

Defence has judged that future lethality will come roughly 80pc from drones and autonomous systems, and just 20pc from traditional armoured platforms and artillery. The Colonel says this is both bold and correct. The evidence from Ukraine, he says, is overwhelming. The side that can find, identify, and destroy targets fastest is the side that survives. The Ukrainians, despite chronic shortages in ammunition and equipment, have become masters of this new form of warfare and remain streets ahead of most NATO armies in understanding its practical application.

Had Ukraine received the military support it requested earlier and in greater quantity, there is little doubt that Putin would now be in a far weaker position and considerably more enthusiastic about genuine peace negotiations. That lesson should not be lost on Britain. Defence cannot once again become the sacrificial lamb of domestic political turmoil. At a time when global instability is increasing, any government distracted by internal political warfare risks placing the defence of the realm in jeopardy.

Recce-Strike itself is deceptively simple in concept but revolutionary in execution. It integrates surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike assets into a single digital ecosystem capable of identifying and destroying enemy targets within minutes, sometimes seconds. The aim is to collapse the traditional “kill chain” through the use of AI-assisted targeting, drones, sensors, electronic warfare, and long-range precision firing.

The concept comprises three principal components. First, rapid targeting, drastically reducing the time between detection and destruction through AI-enabled decision making. Second, persistent battlefield surveillance using drones, sensors and electronic warfare to create a comprehensive picture of the battlespace. This is precisely where the much-maligned Ajax reconnaissance vehicle becomes absolutely critical. Critics have spent years deriding Ajax, but they fundamentally misunderstand its role. It is not merely a reconnaissance platform; it is the digital nerve centre of the future battlefield. Third comes long-range firing, combining intelligence and precision strike through artillery, missiles, and loitering munitions to hit enemy formations deep behind the front line.

The announcement that Britain will acquire 72 new self-propelled 155mm howitzers is highly significant. Mounted on the Boxer chassis, the RCH 155 represents exactly the sort of long-range precision capability Britain desperately needs. The systems will be manufactured in the United Kingdom under a contract valued at just under £1bn, strategically vital at a time when sovereign industrial resilience matters more than ever. The remotely or manually operated howitzer can fire eight rounds per minute at targets up to 70 kilometres away and can even operate unmanned when required.

Together with Ajax and Challenger 3, Britain is beginning to assemble the foundations of a genuinely modern, digitally integrated land force. Challenger 3, in particular, will be the Army’s first truly digital main battle tank and a formidable asset if fielded correctly. Combined, these systems could provide the British Army with a highly credible Recce-Strike capability suitable for surviving and winning on tomorrow’s battlefield.

However, time is not our side. The current ambition to have these capabilities fully operational by the end of the decade may simply be too slow given the pace of global instability and military innovation. There is no doubt that integrating Ajax, RCH 155, and Challenger 3 into a coherent fighting force presents enormous challengers in training, logistics, and doctrine. Nonetheless, these are solvable problems, provided the Treasury delivers sustained funding and political leaders maintain focus.

That, ultimately, is the key issue. Defence requires long-term national resolve, not short-term political calculation. The danger is that political chaos in Westminster, and any further lurch to the Left should Sir Keir Starmer lose his grip on Labour, could once again see defence spending sacrificed in favour of ever-expanding socialist commitments.

Today, Russia remains aggressive, China increasingly assertive, and conflict in the Middle East continues to destabilise the international order. Against such a backdrop, weakening defence spending would not simply be irresponsible. It would be reckless.

Without national security, every area of public spending is meaningless. If Britain cannot defend itself, debates over welfare and health budgets rapidly become academic. History repeatedly teaches us that freedom, prosperity, and stability are only preserved when nations possess the will and the capability to defend them.

– Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon’s next book ‘Tank Command’, to be released on June 4, is published by Headline, 320pp

His previous memoir, Chemical Warrior, was published in 2021. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a world-leading expert on chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons