The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a Ministry of Defence directorate that provides a joint special operations task force headquarters. The UKSF is commanded by the Director Special Forces. The directorate commands 22 Special Air Service Regiment, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing.
Video United Kingdom Special Forces
Formation
The UKSF was formed in 1987 to draw together the Army's Special Air Service and the Naval Service's Special Boat Squadron, which was renamed the Special Boat Service during the formation, into a unified command, based around the former Director SAS, who was given the additional title of Director Special Forces. The directorate has been expanded by the creation of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, 18 Signal Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group. Approximately 40% of all UK Special Forces are recruited from the Royal Marines.
Maps United Kingdom Special Forces
Roles and tasks
UKSF assets undertake a number of roles, with a degree of interaction and interoperability:
- Counter-terrorism
- Unconventional Warfare
- Covert reconnaissance
- Special reconnaissance
- Direct action
- Close protection
- Counter-revolutionary warfare
- Reconnaissance of the deep battlespace
- Offensive operations in the deep battlespace
- Battlespace preparation in transition to war
- Infrastructure disruption
- Capture of subjects of interest
- Human intelligence (HUMINT) collection
- Defence diplomacy
- Training of other nations' armed forces
Units
- Special Boat Service (Naval Service)
- C Squadron
- M Squadron
- X Squadron
- Z Squadron
- Special Boat Service (Reserve; Naval Service)
- 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (British Army)
- A Squadron
- B Squadron
- D Squadron
- G Squadron
- Special Reconnaissance Regiment (British Army)
- 18 Signal Regiment (Royal Corps of Signals, British Army)
- SBS Signal Squadron
- 264 (SAS) Signal Squadron
- 267 (SRR) Signal Squadron
- 268 (SFSG) Signal Squadron
- 63 (SAS) Signal Squadron (Reserve)
- Special Forces Support Group
- A Company
- B Company
- C Company
- F Company
- Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing
- 7 Squadron (Royal Air Force)
- 658 Squadron (Army Air Corps, British Army)
- Special Forces Flight 47 Squadron (Royal Air Force)
Following the Army 2020 reforms, the 21st Special Air Service Regiment and 23rd Special Air Service Regiment were moved from the command of UKSF to 1st Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade in 2014.
See also
- United Kingdom Special Forces Selection
- List of military special forces units
References
External links
- Official UKSF (Reserve) website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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