Informing the Army’s Future Structure

[daftandbarmy]

speaking of resources, i think the CAF is living in a pipe dream right now for wanting two RFL2 rifle coy's coming out of 38,39,and 41 CBG to support ops. unless there is some major changes going on over the next few years getting two platoons out of the reserves will be a hard battle, let alone two companies.

Two platoons (of Officers and SNCOs) should be easy enough to manage

 

[KevinB]

Two platoons (of Officers and SNCOs) should be easy enough to manage

Don’t forget the MGen running the Platoon

 

[daftandbarmy]

Don’t forget the MGen running the Platoon

I think that most of those have a job, at least, unlike the slack handful of post-command LCols hanging around in each CBG

 

[Rifleman62]

How France Fought a Lightning War in Mali (Op Serval)

 

[Kirkhill]

Can we have some of our people spend a bit more time with the French?

 

[Kirkhill]

And this suggestion about loitering munitions use by the USMC BLT looks interesting.

Strike Platoon: Employment of Loitering Munitions in the Battalion Landing Team | Small Wars Journal

Infantry units have always required indirect fire in support of maneuver. Javelins and slings gave way to bows and arrows, and so on throughout history. While modern artillery and mortar systems offer relatively imprecise fire support to the modern warrior, surgical fires in support of maneuver...

smallwarsjournal.com

 

[Kirkhill]

The Strike Platoon's "spotter"? As suggested by the author of the BLT article.

V-BAT - Shield AI

From securing borders, hunting drugs, to finding threats. Shield AI’s V-BAT is the future of next-generation UAS.

shield.ai

Hivemind looks kind of interesting as well "No GPS. No comms. No problem"

Hivemind - Shield AI

Similar to a human pilot, Hivemind reads and reacts to the battlefield, and does not require GPS, way-points, or comms to make decisions.

shield.ai

 

[Kirkhill]

Can we have some of our people spend a bit more time with the French?

I love that an infantry section is an infantry section regardless of the vehicle they ride. They all operate on the same command and control system.
SL and DMR, Gnr and Driver, A Tm of 3 and B Tm of 3. Likewise for the Platoon. Vehicle independent.

I also love their come as you are mentality. Work with what is at hand and lock them together as you can. "Fustest with the mostest".

And there is more than a little of that spirit of "elan" - maintain the momentum.

 

[Dale Denton]

But everyone else is doing it...

https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryPorn/comments/st9tbr

 

[Kirkhill]

More on V-Bat.

A 2017 USMC Demonstration video.

Moving on with Flights of Fancy

Just thinking about how similar the flight regime is for the Zapata Flyboard and the Martin V-Bat. Looking for the crossover.

 

[markppcli]

Can we have some of our people spend a bit more time with the French?

I don’t know that we really need section knee mortars. I’d be happy with an Italian style company with a two car company atgm section.

In addition, I get the section is always the same benefit, but that requires you build you vehicles to do that. I’m not convinced in a one man turret and a dual hatred gunner / CC; but if you want to do it you need to have vehicles built to do it. Yeah

 

[daftandbarmy]

But everyone else is doing it...

https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryPorn/comments/st9tbr

That's quite the achievement for the Dutch.

The Rangers starve people during their course and the Dutch Commandos are the biggest eaters I've ever seen

 

[FJAG]

All right. I've threatened to add another Force 2025 napkin orbat into the system and here it is. I call it Force 2027 V2.0.

It still works on the basis that every headquarters and company designated RFL 1 or 1.1 is a fully equipped and rapidly deployable entity with 100% to 70% RegF staffing. (RFL 1.1 is a slight modification which indicates the headquarters or company is fully equipped and deployable in peace or war with minimal augmentation from either it's organic reserve personnel or from another RegF or ResF organization.)

RFL 2 and 3 headquarters and companies form augmentation pools and are designed to be mobilizational with varying levels of equipment but designed with an expectation to be equipped at some point in the future.

Changes include the following:

a) artillery close support regiments lose their observation and STA batteries. FSCCs and observers return to the close support batteries to simplify training and career progression. STA batteries are reduced to STA troops contained within the Regt'l headquarters. Each brigade has two loitering AUAV batteries, one permanently assigned to the cavalry regiment as close support, the other to the artillery regiment as general support.

b) tank squadrons are three platoons of four tanks to permit equipping of two full regiments from current stocks

c) all infantry battalions have a weapons company for mortars, recce, anti-armour and pioneers.

d) transport companies and supply companies in the brigade service battalions have been amalgamated back into S&T companies.

e) while not apparent from the diagram, all Regt'l and Bn service support companies within a manoeuvre brigade are under command of the service battalion but attached in direct support of the units that they are assigned to. The purpose is to allow one central agency to control both staffing and career management for CSS personnel within the brigade while retaining the response relationship with the supported unit.

f) while not an army resource, HSvc and MP elements have been included for information purposes. The sole MP regiment assigns MP platoons to brigade HQs as required and maintains additional resources for above brigade tasks such as PW handling etc. Medical resources assigned to brigades as Fd Ambs will be attached for administration to the Svc Bn. A Medical battalion is located within 1 CSustB with a Fd Hosp and three Evac platoons.

g) a Canadian Army Support Group has been added to contain all base support functions. It is divided into three regional regiments of four battalions each.

 

[KevinB]

All right. I've threatened to add another Force 2025 napkin orbat into the system and here it is. I call it Force 2027 V2.0.

It still works on the basis that every headquarters and company designated RFL 1 or 1.1 is a fully equipped and rapidly deployable entity with 100% to 70% RegF staffing. (RFL 1.1 is a slight modification which indicates the headquarters or company is fully equipped and deployable in peace or war with minimal augmentation from either it's organic reserve personnel or from another RegF or ResF organization.)

RFL 2 and 3 headquarters and companies form augmentation pools and are designed to be mobilizational with varying levels of equipment but designed with an expectation to be equipped at some point in the future.

Changes include the following:

a) artillery close support regiments lose their observation and STA batteries. FSCCs and observers return to the close support batteries to simplify training and career progression. STA batteries are reduced to STA troops contained within the Regt'l headquarters. Each brigade has two loitering AUAV batteries, one permanently assigned to the cavalry regiment as close support, the other to the artillery regiment as general support.

b) tank squadrons are three platoons of four tanks to permit equipping of two full regiments from current stocks

c) all infantry battalions have a weapons company for mortars, recce, anti-armour and pioneers.

d) transport companies and supply companies in the brigade service battalions have been amalgamated back into S&T companies.

e) while not apparent from the diagram, all Regt'l and Bn service support companies within a manoeuvre brigade are under command of the service battalion but attached in direct support of the units that they are assigned to. The purpose is to allow one central agency to control both staffing and career management for CSS personnel within the brigade while retaining the response relationship with the supported unit.

f) while not an army resource, HSvc and MP elements have been included for information purposes. The sole MP regiment assigns MP platoons to brigade HQs as required and maintains additional resources for above brigade tasks such as PW handling etc. Medical resources assigned to brigades as Fd Ambs will be attached for administration to the Svc Bn. A Medical battalion is located within 1 CSustB with a Fd Hosp and three Evac platoons.

g) a Canadian Army Support Group has been added to contain all base support functions. It is divided into three regional regiments of four battalions each.

View attachment 68735

Any reason you don't have any units at 100% Regular?
I see Sub Units - but is the assumption that a IRU would be a BattleGroup (Inf or Armor Heavy) and not a sole unit?

 

[daftandbarmy]

Any reason you don't have any units at 100% Regular?
I see Sub Units - but is the assumption that a IRU would be a BattleGroup (Inf or Armor Heavy) and not a sole unit?

Probably because the foolish boy still holds out some hope for the 'Class A Commando' mob

 

[OldSolduer]

Moving on with Flights of Fancy

Just thinking about how similar the flight regime is for the Zapata Flyboard and the Martin V-Bat. Looking for the crossover.

Lets hire a bunch of Mandalorians. They seem to have the expertise on this.

 

[FJAG]

Any reason you don't have any units at 100% Regular?
I see Sub Units - but is the assumption that a IRU would be a BattleGroup (Inf or Armor Heavy) and not a sole unit?

Yes.

I wanted to stay within roughly equivalent authorized PYs and authorized ResF strengths. To create the necessary RegF levels across the force required a scaling back of 100% full time companies per battalion.

I'm also persuaded by the fact that we rarely deploy full-sized battalions these days but rather a battle group formed from one or two company sized elements with attachments from other arms. The overall aim is to create more rotatable battle group headquarters and a more intimate relationship within brigades and battalions as between RegF and ResF elements to increase training and experience levels.

The risk is that at some point a full-sized battalion must be generated. This risk is mitigated by the fact that, if required, every manoeuvre brigade could immediately field one or two full sized battalions plus attachments from within it's own resources.

 

[FJAG]

Probably because the foolish boy still holds out some hope for the 'Class A Commando' mob

Class A Commandos is some other guy. I'm aiming for run-of-the-mill line battalions.

 

[KevinB]

Yes.

I wanted to stay within roughly equivalent authorized PYs and authorized ResF strengths. To create the necessary RegF levels across the force required a scaling back of 100% full time companies per battalion.

I'm also persuaded by the fact that we rarely deploy full-sized battalions these days but rather a battle group formed from one or two company sized elements with attachments from other arms. The overall aim is to create more rotatable battle group headquarters and a more intimate relationship within brigades and battalions as between RegF and ResF elements to increase training and experience levels.

The risk is that at some point a full-sized battalion must be generated. This risk is mitigated by the fact that, if required, every manoeuvre brigade could immediately field one or two full sized battalions plus attachments from within it's own resources.

Kevin going further heretic - any reason not to form them as BattleGroups from the get go?

 

[FJAG]

Kevin going further heretic - any reason not to form them as BattleGroups from the get go?

Oh yeah.

I'm firmly in the camp against permanent battlegroups. They are administratively hard to run - to many specialist skills under one hat - and greatly impede the flexibility that comes out of having brigade (and higher resources). As an example a battery that doesn't organize and train as part of a regiment and larger organization losses 50% or more of its value as a massed indirect fire support capability. Same with tanks, recce and so on.

The aim here is to be able to easily form smaller tailor made organizations for peacetime missions but have the ability to generate larger and more capable formations for war time. (This establishment also presupposes a continued 1 Cdn Div HQ with CJOC)

Another point I failed to mention earlier is equipment. The organization is based on an initial equipment holding of what the CA currently has but distributed in such a way that ResF personnel have a greatly improved access to the type of equipment they will man when augmenting or mobilized. The intent is that future equipment acquisitions would be made to fill the holes. As an example, properly equipping the heavy brigades will loosen up sufficient LAVs etc to equip the second medium brigade and so on.