The British Army has been told to cease "non-essential" training exercises to conserve funds, a defence source has indicated. This directive applies to units within the UK that are not currently preparing for specific deployments.
Training for soldiers who are preparing for deployment or are already deployed, such as those in Estonia, the Falklands, or Cyprus, will continue. However, units not facing imminent deployment have been instructed to scale back collective training exercises due to financial constraints.
Planned exercises, including live fire drills by the Royal Tank Regiment in Wales and a separate exercise involving tanks and Apache helicopters, are understood to be cancelled. The pause in these activities is expected to last for most of this year. Training focused on modernising the Army, such as drone and counter-drone warfare, is expected to proceed.
An Army spokesperson stated that training continues, with a focus on activities that contribute most directly to readiness, deployability, and operational effectiveness. The Army is also investing £2bn to transform training over the next 15 years.