The Royal Artillery

The Role of Our Soldiers

In order to do the job we need to do, on operations and at home, we rely on capable, highly-motivated soldiers and officers to operate and command a growing number of assets.

Some of our soldiers specialise in finding the enemy. They do this using unmanned aerial systems, digital cameras, radars and by being right at the front-line with the infantry. Others will specialise in delivering a kinetic effect, that is to say, they operate the Royal Artillery’s guns, missiles and rockets.

We also have soldiers who specialise in providing the communication and logistic support to enable the Royal Artillery to function.

We have regiments that support the Paras and the Commandos, and as a Combat Support Arm all of our regiments work closely with the infantry, tanks and attack helicopters.

Finally, we even have a ceremonial role- the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, which has remained largely unchanged for almost 100 years!

The Royal Artillery today

The Royal Artillery comprises both Regular (full-time) and Territorial (part-time) units, located all around the UK and in Germany. We were originally formed in 1716 in Woolwich, in South-East London, which remained our Regimental home for almost 300 years. Our home is now in Larkhill, on the southern edge of Salisbury Plain, which is a perfect setting for training and preparing our soldiers, officers and equipment.

Our Regiment is unique in the British Army because of the emphasis we have always placed on our sub-units: our batteries. Batteries can deploy independently, move around between regiments and even perform different roles to one another within a single regiment.

Queen Elizabeth II is the Royal Artillery’s Captain General. This means that the Royal Artillery answers directly to our reigning sovereign. We do this through the Master Gunner, St James’s Park who is Her Majesty’s chief advisor on artillery matters.

The Royal Artillery is constantly changing and adapting to the requirements of a changing defence environment. We introduce new, state-of-the-art equipment into our arsenal every year, and our soldiers and officers have to be intelligent, flexible and fit enough to cope with the demands of the modern battlefield.