This paper illustrates how Britain has once again neglected its vulnerable ports, coastal CNI and littoral, with all its pipelines and cables, despite a modest investment in HMS Proteus, and that the only affordable way to fill the gap is with reserves, including by drawing on those who earn a living from the sea. It pays tribute to the quality of the men and women in the Maritime Reserves and charts some recovery since the grim, unplanned cuts of 20/21, with a particular strength emerging in information warfare, but suggests that much more could be done for very little cost, by making more use of reserves as our major Five Eyes partners do. https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/occasional-papers/maritime-reserves-grasping-opportunity
This paper argues for the increased use of Air Reserves as one important and affordable response to the challenges and developments that now face the air service. Control of the air, enjoyed by British and allied forces for many years, is vital in any operation, but cannot be taken for granted against peer adversaries. The war in Ukraine shows how critical air power is, but also how complicated the air dimension has become, including with the widespread use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) and civilian drones. The RAF faces the combined challenges of a heightened and diverse strategic threat, difficulties in securing the right talent, and heavily constrained resources. In the case of aircrew, it is also wholly dependent on a slow and costly pipeline for producing pilots that can consume roughly half the average career the RAF gets from its pilots. Furthermore, there is evidence that post- Covid, shortages are emerging in the civil airline sector, threatening a new drain on b