7th Air Defence Group
7th Air Defence Group badge
Active1999 – present
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeCombat support
RoleGround based air-defence
SizeThree regiments (two regular & one Reserve) and one support battery
Part of3rd UK Division
HeadquartersBaker Barracks, Thorney Island[1]
Equipment

7th Air Defence Group (7 AD Gp) is a formation of the British Army and part of 3rd (United Kingdom) Division. It is responsible for all the army's ground based air defence assets. All of the organisation's subordinate units are drawn from the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The headquarters are located at Baker Barracks, Thorney Island.

History

A large number of light and heavy anti-aircraft regiments accompanied British Commonwealth field armies to the Western Desert (eg 45th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery), India/Burma, and North-West Europe during the Second World War.[2]

One of the postwar Army anti-aircraft formations was 7th Army Group Royal Artillery (Anti-Aircraft). 7 AGRA had been established in August 1944 in Italy.[3] Watson and Rinaldi record that 7 AGRA (AA) moved to Germany in September 1961.[4] It became 7 Artillery Brigade (AA) with its headquarters in Gutersloh the next month. Two years earlier, 36 and 37 Regiments RA had become Guided Weapons Regiments RA equipped with the Thunderbird missile. On 1 April 1968 the two regiments were merged into 36 Regiment which had a further tour in Germany before disbandment.[5] There were also light AA regiments equipped with 40mm Bofors guns. In 1964 'anti-aircraft' units became 'air defence' units.[5]

On 1 September 1977, 1st Artillery Brigade and 7th Artillery Brigade (Anti-Aircraft) were both disbanded, and their units absorbed by the new 1st Artillery Division which had its headquarters at Dortmund.[6]

The brigade appears to have been reformed as 7 Air Defence Brigade after the 1998 Strategic Defence Review. One of the earliest mentions appears to have been in the House of Lords Daily Hansard for 24 February 1999.[7]

In 1999, the following units fell under command of the 7 Air Defence Brigade:[8]

By 2003, Joint Warfare Publication 3-63 Joint Air Defence, Second Edition, said:[9]

..Headquarters 7th Air Defence Brigade (7 AD Bde HQ) is the highest level GBAD formation HQ in the British Army. It is primarily configured to command British, and other NATO nations’ assigned GBAD units subordinate to HQ Allied Command Operations (ACO) Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC). As such it is established as an element of the ARRC and works in close conjunction with the HQ ARRC Air Branch and the ARRC-affiliated AOCC (L), both of which are responsible for the overall co-ordination and planning of ARRC AD operations and airspace control. HQ 7 AD Bde is also capable of commanding GBAD units in a national role.

Joint Ground Based Air Defence Headquarters

A member of the Royal Artillery with a Starstreak High Velocity Missile system.
A member of the Royal Artillery with a Starstreak High Velocity Missile system.

As part of the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, the decision was taken to cut and rationalise ground based air defence, retaining ground-based air defence capabilities only in one service but under a joint command structure. 7 Air Defence Brigade was reorganised as the Joint Ground Based Air Defence Headquarters and its RAF equivalent disbanded. The organisation was then placed under command of the RAF, but with all units being manned by the Royal Artillery. During this period, the only regiment under its formation was the 16th Regiment, Royal Artillery which itself in-directly attached to HQ Theatre Troops.[10][11]

Reformation

Under the Army 2020 Refine restructuring of the British Army, the Joint Ground Based Air Defence Headquarters was disestablished and 7th Air Defence Group formed on 1 April 2019, with all the UK's ground based air defence assets under its command.[12] 7 Air Defence Group is now under 3rd UK Division.[13] The deputy commander of the group is also 'Head of Establishment' of Baker Barracks. The deputy commander is from the Royal Air Force and holds the rank of wing commander.[14]

Units

The current structure is:

Notes

  1. ↑ "Launch of new Joint Air Defence Group". British Army. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  2. ↑ 45 LAA Regt at RA 1939–45. Archived 7 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ 7th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 30 March 2016 Archived 23 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ The British Army in Germany: An Organizational History 1947-2004, By Graham Watson, Richard A. Rinaldi, 28.
  5. 1 2 "36 Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  6. ↑ Watson and Rinaldi, p. 77
  7. ↑ "Land Command Order of Battle, Lords Daily Hansard 24 February 1999".
  8. ↑ Staff Officer's Handbook 1999, Serial 69.
  9. ↑ Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre, Joint Warfare Publication 3-63 Joint Air Defence, Second Edition, page 4-10 (63/121), para 417, July 2003.
  10. ↑ "Divisions and Brigades". army.mod.uk. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "Strategic Defence Review, paragraphs 33 and 34" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "Force Troops Command Handbook". Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  13. ↑ "Army restructures to confront evolving threats". British Army. Upavon. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  14. ↑ "Today saw the transfer of authority for the role of Deputy Commander 7 Air Defence Group and Head of Establishment Baker Barracks". Twitter. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Command of the United Kingdom's ground-based air defence systems has transferred from the Royal Air Force to the Army. Jt GBAD (Joint Ground Based Air Defence) was renamed to 7th Air Defence Group under the new Operational Command of the Army's Force Troops Command". www.army.mod.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  16. ↑ "7th Air Defence Group". www.army.mod.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  17. ↑ "British Army assumes control of UK ground-based air defence from RAF". Janes.com. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  18. 1 2 3 "Army, Question for Ministry of Defence — current Order of Battle by manpower and basing locations for the corps". United Kingdom Parliament — Written questions, answers, and statements. 22 November 2018. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  19. ↑ "12 Regiment Royal Artillery". www.army.mod.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  20. ↑ "Army Unveils Sky Sabre Air Defence System". www.army.mod.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2021.

References

  • Ministry of Defence, Staff Officer's Handbook Number 71038, D/DGD&D/18/35/54, 1999.
  • Beckett, I. F. W. (2008). Territorials: A Century of Service. DRA Publishing. ISBN 978-0955781315.
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