The Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group is a formation of the British Army that commands the Army's miniature UAS, tactical UAS, counter-intelligence and reach back intelligence capabilities, the Specialist Group Military Intelligence and the Land Intelligence Fusion Centre.
History
1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade Under the Army 2020 programme, a larger emphasis was placed on cyber and specialist capabilities. As part of this reorganisation, the 1st Military Intelligence Brigade, the Royal Artillery's UAS regiments, Honourable Artillery Company and the two reserve Special Air Service (SAS) Regiments came under the command of the newly formed 1st Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade. The new brigade was stood up on 1 September 2014 at Upavon and placed under Force Troops Command.
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group Under the Future Soldier programme announced on 25 November 2021, the brigade was reduced to a Colonel's Command, became the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group and transferred from the now disbanded 6th Division to Field Army Troops. The role of the group is to be to command the Army's miniature UAS, tactical UAS, counter-intelligence, and reach back intelligence capabilities, the Specialist Group Military Intelligence, and Land Intelligence Fusion Centre. It also commands the Land Image Intelligence Company, a pool of experts who deliver image analysis for all the Army's image collection platforms.
Structure
Before becoming ISR Group Headquarters, 1st Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Brigade, at Trenchard Lines, Upavon 14 Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare), Royal Corps of Signals, at Cawdor Barracks, Brawdy 2nd Military Intelligence (Exploitation) Battalion, Intelligence Corps, at Trenchard Lines, Upavon 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, in Hackney 4th Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, at Ward Barracks, Bulford Camp 6th Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, in Manchester – paired with 2 Military Intelligence Battalion 7th Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, in Bristol – paired with 4 Military Intelligence Battalion 32 Regiment Royal Artillery, at Roberts Barracks, Larkhill Garrison (UAV operations, with Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk III)Ministry of Defence, List of units, formations, and equipment of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom. Ministry of Defence, London. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 10 November 2021. Specialist Group Military Intelligence, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage Defence Cultural and Linguistic Support Unit, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage
On formation in 2014 Headquarters 1st Intelligence and Surveillance Brigade, at Trenchard Lines, Upavon
14 Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare), Royal Corps of Signals, at Cawdor Barracks, Brawdy 1 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, at Bourlon Barracks, Catterick Garrison 2 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, at Trenchard Lines, Upavon 3 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps), in Hackney, London – paired with 1 MI Bn 4 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, at Ward Barracks, Bulford Camp 5 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, in Edinburgh – paired with 1 MI Bn 6 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, in Manchester – paired with 2 MI Bn 7 Military Intelligence Battalion, Intelligence Corps, in Bristol – paired with 4 MI Bn 5th Regiment, Royal Artillery, at Marne Barracks, Catterick Garrison 32 Regiment, Royal Artillery, at Roberts Barracks, Larkhill Garrison (Mini UAS)Ministry of Defence, List of units, formations, and equipment of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom. Ministry of Defence, London. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 November 2021. 47 Regiment, Royal Artillery, at Horne Barracks, Larkhill Garrison (Tactical UAVs) 104 Regiment, Royal Artillery, in Newport (Mini UAS) – paired with 32 & 47 Regiments RA The Honourable Artillery Company, at Finsbury Barracks, Finsbury, London 21(Artists)(Reserve) SAS Regiment, at Albany Barracks, Regents Park, LondonArmy Briefing Note 120/14, NEWLY FORMED FORCE TROOPS COMMAND SPECIALIST BRIGADES, Quote . It commands all of the Army's Intelligence, Surveillance and EW assets, and is made up of units specifically from the former 1 MI Bde and 1 Arty Bde, as well as 14 Sig Regt, 21 and 23 SAS(R). 23(Reserve) SAS Regiment, at Kingstanding, BirminghamArmy Briefing Note 120/14, NEWLY FORMED FORCE TROOPS COMMAND SPECIALIST BRIGADES, Quote . It commands all of the Army's Intelligence, Surveillance and EW assets, and is made up of units specifically from the former 1 MI Bde and 1 Arty Bde, as well as 14 Sig Regt, 21 and 23 SAS(R). Specialist Group Military Intelligence, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage Defence Cultural Specialist Unit, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage Land Intelligence Fusion Centre, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage
List of commanders
1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade 2014–2016: Tom Copinger-Symes 2016–2018: James Bowder 2018–2020: Julian Buczacki 2020–2021: Matthew Jones
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group
References
External links 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade Website