Falklands Island defence force

[JP1983]

Hey, thanks for clearing that up for me.
One More Question..
The FIDF is just a Standard Light Company with Rifle Platoons or are they more Multi-Role Personnel, Like are they branched of into Infantry, Recon, SARs and Law Enforcement Sections or just into Standard Rifle Teams.

[RobWilliams]

Most of the info on the FIDF I can find is patchy at best (Even Wiki goes down to say "Sniper Rifles" as part of their equipment, nothing specific), in terms of civilian operations they'll probably be similar to what UK troops are like in the UK, there's 2 SAR Sea Kings on the island but apart from that I have little to no idea.

I expect they'll have a regular infantry company mirroring the British Army component already down there - maybe a bit bigger. But the rest IMO would be specialised roles recon etc, I'd be surprised if out of ~200 members the FIDF didn't have some sort of sniper/DM rifle.

The linked video is supposedly a FIDF recruitment video and you can see a ghillied up sniper at some points with a rifle of unknown origin (Haven't yet picked up my stock of energy drinks to keep up with tonight so i'm a bit tired).

Couple of things I picked out was SAW varient of the AUG ~0:37 with (what looks like) an SA80 with UGL - British troops joint training exercise maybe?

Very interesting point for me was 1:12, at first I thought "Well that's just the FIDF playing with British Army toys", but on closer inspection the rifle is a Steyr HS50 so IMO there's the potential for it to be a FIDF toy.

Of course, this all depends on if it's a legitimate FIDF video

[StobieWan]

Originally Posted by JP1983

So, is the Defence Force just a Light Infantry Company or has it Change since The Falkland Islands War? Because a Light Infantry Company Seems kinda Small to be the Island's Main Defense Force, I understand that UK has more Military Units there since the The War, but I thought the FIDF would of got an up graded to like a Detachment of Mechanized Infantry, Light Cavalry or an Air Assault Unit. But I just thought that they would get an Up Grade to at least to keep up with the Modern World

They're considerably better equipped than in the 80's - and the nearest belligerent neighbour has no amphibious capability to speak of, and only two C130's available to drop paratroops. Considering the threat they're facing, they're light, mobile with quad bikes and a range of light to heavy machine guns, with an embedded RMC instructor.

Frankly, the idea of an irate bunch of sheep farmers on quad bikes with HMG's would scare the bejesus out of me so perhaps it has the same effect on the Argentine forces ?

[RobWilliams]

Definitely.

Not to mention that any training from British Army troops they get will most probably be from infantry with several tours of Afghan/Iraq under their belt and have the "I was there" T-shirt.

Factor in what you said with a VERY in depth knowledge of the land, weather patterns and what the combination of that can have on certain parts of the island at different times of the year (My dad could look out of the window and identify which of the fields will be worst affected and what'd be the easiest route to a particular field so I expect they'd be able to have a similar gut feeling). Very formidable, IMO.

[Marc 1]

Originally Posted by RobWilliams

BBC puts the numbers at a regular company ~100 men with ~200 reservists that make up the FIDF. Interesting to note that any images of the FIDF show them armed with the Steyr AUG, if it's rugged enough for the Aussies then it's rugged enough for the FIDF

Strange choice from a commonality point of view. Nothing wrong with the Steyr, but that to me would be the equivalent of us equipping a locally raised Ares unit on Christmas Island with SA80's. Interestingly according to Wiki, the Argentine army are re-equipping with Steyr AUG - maybe it has something to do with that?

[RobWilliams]

I was wondering that too, I (very briefly) looked into it and the 2 following reasons seemed the most . . "popular"

1) That when the UK selected the L85A1, the FIDF was very low down on the UKs list on rearmament, UK's armed forces + cadets etc were all first in line to receive the weapons and the FIDF didn't want to wait to replace their L1A1 SLRs

Personally I have issues with this because post '82 they probably had more small arms they could possibly ever want in the form of the FN FAL (nothing stopping them using it on semi auto) from the Argentines so was there really a particularly pressing need for new 5.56 weapons now considering the success of the SLR in the campaign?

2) When the FIDF wanted a new weapon it was right at the time where the L85A1 was having really bad 'teething troubles' (need I say more) so the FIDF thought "No thanks" and went for the AUG which (i think) was performing fine and had lots of lovely variants from which the FIDF could go "I want X of these, Y of those and Z of them".

One comment that seemed relevant was that they may be a BOT, but being a self governing territory they had no real obligation to buy UK weaponry and selected weapons that suited their tactical needs at the time. Were they to re-evaluate their stock and were given the L85A2 to task with, personally I believe they'd be more than happy to use it, it just seems like how the A1 was performing put them off.

Apart from that, I can't really find too much on the FIDF let alone why they went for the AUG.

[JP1983]

The AUG is the 'Csyadelic' Aussie and Irish Assault Rifle, no doubt a good Weapon.. So I understand now that The FIDF is a Light Company, I like to know more of the FIDF.

[RobWilliams]

Forgot to actually link the video -_- (+ do you mean Psychedelic?)

Falkland Islands Defence Force - Recruitment 2012 - YouTube

Looks pretty good, but like I said not 100% sure if it's legitimate or "fan made". Should emphasise it certainly seems like it's a light company, the islands don't really have the facilities or capabilities for it to be any other type; armoured (Warrior), mechanised (bulldog), air assault.

A dug in force of ~230 light infantry with ~70 tasked for specialised roles; scouting/recon etc should be entirely sufficient considering the sort of weapons available to the British infantry company that weren't available in the past.

[Strangelove]

Not a regiment; more like a company. Only 50 men I believe. The real strength is the Roulement regular force deployed there from the British Army's main order of battle.

Originally Posted by Manfred

A Regiment? That can't be right, I didn't think that there were enough men in the Falklands, able-bodied or otherwise, to form a Regiment. How many troops does a British Regiment require?

[RobWilliams]

I'd like to see a source for that number of 50 please, not because i'm disagreeing with you, more that i've never actually seen a proper figure given as an estimate as to the size of the company.

AFAIK the general figure thrown around for a company is 100, but i'd love to be shown otherwise in this respect.

[Strangelove]

It's my own estimate. Wikipedia has it at 80-225, but going on there being only 3000 Falklanders, and I'm guessing a few hundred of that figure are only there in the short/medium term/ part of the time on business, it doesn't seem feasible. Also, as a reservist myself, I bet there are some oldies on their list who aren't trained strength / can't be relied upon to be present/useful. Even if they have 100 company strength in total, I think 50 would be nearer the figure in practice.

Originally Posted by RobWilliams

I'd like to see a source for that number of 50 please, not because i'm disagreeing with you, more that i've never actually seen a proper figure given as an estimate as to the size of the company.

AFAIK the general figure thrown around for a company is 100, but i'd love to be shown otherwise in this respect.

[RobWilliams]

Oh you're talking about the FIDF light infantry company? I was on about the rotated British infantry company

The BBC puts the figures of the number of reservists at around 200. It might be possible that the upper limit of the Wiki figure being the total number and the 80 being the number which makes up the core of the regular company in peacetime.

Just a shot in the dark though.

[Strangelove]

The RN site says 100 troops were involved in amphibious training manoeuvres involving HMS Clyde and the Army's most recent (Sept 2012) Falklands Roulement company. This forum won't let me post the link until I have posted more, but google FIRE IN THE HOLE… CLYDE’S SAILORS LET RIP ON LAND to find the story on the RN website.

Originally Posted by RobWilliams

Oh you're talking about the FIDF light infantry company? I was on about the rotated British infantry company

The BBC puts the figures of the number of reservists at around 200. It might be possible that the upper limit of the Wiki figure being the total number and the 80 being the number which makes up the core of the regular company in peacetime.

Just a shot in the dark though.

[RobWilliams]

The RN says 100 troops of the roulement British Army infantry company, not members of the FIDF.

I'm gunna use the BBC's figure for 200 reservists in regards to the FIDF.

[Strangelove]

I think that's a stretch though considering the overall population of the islands as a whole. I quote Sept 12 census figures below my own thoughts.

-2,563 seems the figure to work from.
-We can presume that the approx 278 civilian contractors (making up the overall 2,841 census figure ) living with the military at Pleasant are not part of the FIDF (reserve) unit.
-Minus 5.4% (138) who consider themselves Chilean nationality = 2425.
-Minus 465 children aged 0-15 = 1960; and minus 301 over 65s = 1659.
-almost 50:50 males:females = 829 working age males:830 working age females.
Wiki tells me 9% ave of British Army is female; 17.5% of Australian reserve is female, so I estimate FIDF female proportion is average between the two = 13.25%.
That gives us a maximum of 829 males / 109 females = 938.
The islands census mentions 20% of islanders have 2 jobs (of which we can presume the 2nd jobs of some of those 20% are FIDF reservists).
The maximum possible range of my estimate (20% of 938) = 187 reservists. However it is reasonable to estimate that a large part of that 20% figure actually have 2 different jobs (fishermen / running an additional business/service). If it's 10%, we are left with 94 reservists, which I think is probably a reasonably accurate estimate.

Census data below.

The Falkland Islands Government published the first results from the 2012 Census today.

The normal resident population of the Falkland Islands on census day (15 April 2012) was 2,841.

This was a decrease of 4 per cent since 2006, a decline entirely attributable to the decrease in the number of civilian contractors at Mount Pleasant Airfield (MPA). As non-residents, military personnel are not included in the census.

Excluding contractors at MPA, the true population figure of the Falkland Islands is 2,563 – indicating that the population has remained static since 2006.

Stanley is home to 2121 people, 75 per cent of the population, an increase of less than 1 per cent since 2006. The population in Camp (areas outside of Stanley) has declined by 3.3 per cent to 351 people.

The census shows that 59 per cent of residents consider their national identity to be ‘Falkland Islander’. 29 per cent consider themselves British; 9.8 per cent St Helenian, and 5.4 per cent Chilean.

Jan Cheek, Member of the Legislative Assembly said:

“I’d like to thank the Policy Unit for their hard work in carrying out and analysing the Census data, and the public for their participation. The census is a vital tool for planners and policy-makers and will help inform decision making for years to come. The figures provide a wealth of information relating to our home and our people, and we look forward to further insights as the numbers are analysed further. “

Children aged 0-15 numbered 465 or 16.5 per cent of the overall population of the Islands – a similar number to that reported in the 2006 Census. Elderly persons (defined to be those aged 65 and over) numbered 301 or 10.7 per cent of the population. Comparison with the previous Census confirms that the trend is towards an aging population with the elderly population having increased by almost 14 per cent since 2006.

Excluding persons living in communal accommodation, the Census recorded a total of 1269 households in the Falkland Islands. The vast majority of houses are detached (73 per cent). A total of 98 households (7.9 per cent) reported that they live in a flat, and 48 (3.9 per cent) live permanently in a mobile home. The Census shows that there is a very high level of home ownership in Stanley (62 per cent) and Camp (70 per cent).

Further findings include:

- The unemployment rate is 1 per cent.

- Almost 20 per cent of persons in employment have more than one job.

- The sex ratio in the Islands is a very balanced 101 males per 100 females

For further information please contact:

Falkland Islands Government

Jamie Fotheringham – Head of Policy

Originally Posted by RobWilliams

The RN says 100 troops of the roulement British Army infantry company, not members of the FIDF.

I'm gunna use the BBC's figure for 200 reservists in regards to the FIDF.