British Army Training Unit Suffield
British Army's largest armoured training facility in Alberta, Canada.
The British Army Training Unit Suffield, or BATUS, is a British Army unit based at Canadian Forces Base Suffield in Alberta, Canada. It is the British Army’s biggest facility for armoured training, supporting live-fire and tactical effect simulation drills up to battle group size. The training area is seven times larger than the Salisbury Plain Training Area in England and covers 19% of the area of Northern Ireland, enabling large exercises that UK bases cannot host.
Quick Facts
- Location
- Suffield, Alberta
- Owner
- Ministry of Defence
- Operator
- United Kingdom
- In use
- 1971–present
- Nearest town
- Medicine Hat
Facts from the source article.
History
A British chemical weapons testing facility had been located in French-controlled Algeria, but was lost after Germany conquered France in 1940. Unable to find a suitable location in the UK, Britain reached an agreement with Canada to use the Suffield area for scientific testing. British and Canadian forces conducted various experiments there during World War II. After the war, the British left and the Canadian Defence Research Board formally took over the area. In 1969, Colonel Gaddafi's coup in Libya led to the closure of British military installations at El Adem and Tobruk, leaving the UK without sufficient space in Europe for large-scale armoured warfare exercises. In 1971, a 10-year lease between the British and Canadian governments authorized battle group training at Suffield. BATUS was formally established in January 1972, and the first live rounds were fired that July by the 4th Royal Tank Regiment Battle Group. The lease was extended in 1981 and again in 1991. In 2006, an agreement allowed British forces to train there indefinitely. Reports in September 2020 suggested tank training might end as Challenger 2 tanks aged, prompting local concern from Medicine Hat's mayor and MP about the base's economic role. In November 2021, closure rumours in favour of the Omani-British Joint Training Area were denied by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said the base would see change but not close; the MOD Press Office stated it would remain a vital training base.
Current
Due to extremely cold winters, training runs from May to October each year, typically involving four to six battle groups exercising for 30–38 days each. These are supported by permanent and temporary BATUS staff and a dedicated enemy force, traditionally provided by a single nominated regiment. As of 2019, 229 service personnel were permanently posted, along with 250 dependent children; temporary staff form the bulk of the Operations Group, which designs and delivers live fire and simulated training for Armoured, Infantry and Strike Battlegroups. A logistics squadron and a REME workshop support the camp. Permanent postings last two years. French-speaking local actors are sometimes hired for exercises. A 30-day exercise called Prairie Fire runs four times a year, replicating deployment to a warzone, with soldiers fighting fictional "Donovians" in "Atropia". The unit hosts 1,400 soldiers and over 1,000 vehicles, including 22 Challenger 2 tanks, 103 Bulldog armoured fighting vehicles, and an undisclosed number of Warrior infantry fighting vehicles, AS-90 self-propelled artillery, Trojan combat engineering vehicles, Titan armoured bridge layers, and formerly Gazelle helicopters until their retirement in October 2023. Stationed units include HQ BATUS, the Combat Ready Training Centre, a resident OPFOR rotated annually, 105 Logistic Support Squadron, and the BATUS REME Workshop.
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