British Army to set up new social media unit in April

LONDON: The British Army will set up a new unit in April that will use psychological operations and social media to help fight wars "in the information age".

UK Head of the Army General, Sir Nick Carter, said the move was about trying to operate "smarter".

The 77th Brigade, made up of reservists and regular troops and based in Berkshire, will be formally created in April.

It has been inspired by the Chindits who fought in Burma in World War II.

An Army spokesperson said: "77 Brigade is being created to draw together a host of existing and developing capabilities essential to meet the challenges of modern conflict and warfare.

"It recognises that the actions of others in a modern battlefield can be affected in ways that are not necessarily violent and it draws heavily on important lessons from our commitments to operations in Afghanistan amongst others," he said.

"Recruitment for the brigade, 42 per cent of whose personnel will be reservists, will begin this spring," he said.

Its members will come from the Royal Navy and RAF as well as from the Army. The unit will also seek "new ways of allowing civilians with bespoke skills to serve alongside their military counterparts".

The Army spokesperson said it would share the "spirit of innovation" of the Chindits in the Burma Campaign of 1942 to 1945.

Chindits was the name given to the Long Range Penetration (LRP) groups that operated in the Burmese jungle behind enemy lines, targeting Japanese communications.