David French
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199548231
- eISBN:
- 9780191739224
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548231.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Military History
Sandys hoped to create an air and sea‐mobile Strategic Reserve that would give Britain the ability to intervene in trouble‐spots outside the NATO area and nip trouble in the bud. This chapter ...
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Sandys hoped to create an air and sea‐mobile Strategic Reserve that would give Britain the ability to intervene in trouble‐spots outside the NATO area and nip trouble in the bud. This chapter explores the rise and fall of this strategy and the army's place within it. It shows that the promise of amphibious mobility was borne out during operations in Kuwait and East Africa. But exploiting air‐mobility proved to be more difficult. Finally, although the array of weapons and equipment it could deploy may have looked impressive, the combat capability of the Strategic Reserve was very limited.Less
Sandys hoped to create an air and sea‐mobile Strategic Reserve that would give Britain the ability to intervene in trouble‐spots outside the NATO area and nip trouble in the bud. This chapter explores the rise and fall of this strategy and the army's place within it. It shows that the promise of amphibious mobility was borne out during operations in Kuwait and East Africa. But exploiting air‐mobility proved to be more difficult. Finally, although the array of weapons and equipment it could deploy may have looked impressive, the combat capability of the Strategic Reserve was very limited.
