The Ministry of Defence has launched 13th Signal Regiment,
the UK Armed Forces’ first dedicated Cyber Regiment, which
will protect vital defence networks at home and on
operations overseas.
The unit was formally stood up on Monday, June 1, at a
ceremony at Blandford, home of the Royal Signals.
As the character of warfare evolves, and the weapons used
to fight those wars shift from the industrial to the
information age, digital and cyber capabilities are
increasingly relied upon to ensure the nation’s security
and the safety of our personnel overseas.
Our adversaries and hostile actors are operating in
cyberspace right now, creating a new cyber frontline –
alongside the traditional domains of Land, Sea and Air –
without physical borders but also needing to be defended,
Secure communications are the foundation for any successful
operation and 13th Signal Regiment will provide ‘digital
armour’ around personnel operating overseas, giving
commanders and their soldiers the ability to operate with
confidence in their communications systems, often while
working in challenging conditions.
Defence Secretary said:
This is a step-change in the modernisation of the UK
Armed Forces for information warfare. Cyber-attacks are
every bit as deadly as those faced on the physical
battlefield, so we must prepare to defend ourselves from
all those who would do us harm and 13th Signal Regiment
is a vital addition to that defence.
The 13th Signal Regiment is a regiment of the British Army
within 1st (UK) Signal Brigade, under the command of 6th
(UK) Division, responsible for conducting information
manoeuvre and unconventional warfare, in support of the
whole Armed Forces.
The specialist unit will provide the basis of the new Army
Cyber Information Security Operations Centre, focusing on
the protection of Defence’s cyber domain, and it will work
with the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force to provide secure
networks for all military communications.
And ensuring that UK defensive cyber capabilities remain
ahead of adversaries and aggressors, 13th Signal Regiment
will also provide specialist technical support for a hub to
test and implement next generation information
capabilities.
Based at multiple key locations around a Headquarters in
Blandford, Dorset, 13th Signal Regiment will be built
around a core of 250 specialist servicemen and women who
possess relevant high-end technical skills.
A number of existing cyber functions are being brought
together from across the Army to establish the regiment,
with personnel from 15 different cap badges represented in
the first intake, plus specialist Royal Navy and RAF
personnel.
The regiment will consist of several Cyber Protection Teams
as well as technical staff who will secure the cyber domain
for troops deployed on military operations.
Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith
said:
13th Signal Regiment is the British Army’s brand new
cyber regiment – matching cutting edge technology with
cyber-fit soldiers to compete and win in the Information
Age.
13th Signal Regiment previously existed during WW2 as 1st
Special Wireless Group, and helped to pioneer the use of
wireless technology and high frequency wireless radios.
Renamed 13th (Radio) Signal Regiment in 1959, it had
operators stationed in Berlin throughout the Cold War. The
unit was disbanded in 1994, when its role in Germany was no
longer required.
The new Cyber Regiment will take on the 13th Signal
Regiment name and build on its predecessor’s proud legacy
of innovation and operational excellence.
Brigadier John Collyer, Commander 1st (UK) Signal Brigade,
said:
The re-formation of 13th Signal Regiment is an exciting
step forward as the Royal Signals, Army and wider Defence
rapidly drives up their potency and resilience in the
information environment and cyber domain.
The stakes are high and our success is increasingly and
critically reliant on focusing our brightest men and
women onto the opportunities and risks that underpin our
operations – both home and away.
