5 Information Warfare Battalion
British Army information warfare unit in the Land Special Operations Force, known until 2026 as 5 Information Operations Task Force of 77th Brigade
| 5 Information Warfare Battalion (5 IWB)
| |
|---|---|
| Type | British Army information warfare unit |
| Location | Denison Barracks, Hermitage, Berkshire (as listed for 77th Brigade in 2025) |
| Services | Deployable information activities, tactical psychological operations, partnered operations |
| Key people | Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Donaghy (Commanding Officer, 2026) |
| Remarks | Known as 5 Information Operations Task Force (5 IOTF) until 2026; part of the Land Special Operations Force since 14 April 2026 |
5 Information Warfare Battalion (5 IWB) is a unit of the British Army within the Land Special Operations Force (LSOF). Until 2026 it was called 5 Information Operations Task Force (5 IOTF, also written 5th Information Operations Task Force or 5IOTF) and formed part of the 77th Brigade, the Army's information operations formation.[1][2] The Army described 5 IOTF as "the highly deployable force elements of 77th Brigade, trained in the delivery of tactical information activities", using "Planning and Liaison Elements and Tactical PsyOps teams" to conduct "partnered operations" and deliver "tactical PsyOps activity".[1]
Its sister unit is 101 Information Warfare Battalion (formerly 101 Information Operations Task Force), which the Army described as the brigade's "stand-off" element.[1] In September 2026 the Army said that the two units are "recognised as the Information Warfare Battalions (IWB)".[3]
Role and composition
The British Army's page on the groups of 77th Brigade, online from at least November 2024 until early 2026, said:
- 5 IOTF consists of regular soldiers and officers, tri-service and all-arms, who are trained to use unconventional equipment, processes and techniques to have targeted effects on the UK's adversaries.[1][4]
Unlike 101 Information Operations Task Force, which the same page described as a "hybrid" unit of Regulars, Reservists, Specialist Reserves and contract personnel, 5 IOTF was described as made up of regular personnel.[1]
The page placed 5 IOTF alongside the brigade's Brigade Operations Centre, whose "Mission Teams develop and coordinate information operations within their Military Strategic Frameworks", 101 Information Operations Task Force, 6 Military Intelligence Battalion and the Specialist Mentoring and Coaching Group.[1] It described 6 Military Intelligence Battalion as "structured to support 77th Brigade, Army Special Operations Brigade and 6th (UK) Division", providing "intelligence support integral to the planning and execution of unconventional and information operations" (see Army Special Operations Brigade and 6th (United Kingdom) Division).[1]
The Ministry of Defence has withheld the internal make-up of the LSOF's units. In September 2026 it refused to name the "formally designated companies, squadrons and other named sub-units" of LSOF task forces and groups, under section 26(1)(b) (Defence) of the Freedom of Information Act.[3]
History
Background in 77th Brigade
The 77th Brigade was announced in January 2015. The Guardian described it as "a special force of Facebook warriors, skilled in psychological operations and use of social media", to be based in Hermitage, near Newbury, "about 1,500-strong and formed of units drawn from across the army".[5] Middle East Eye reported in 2019 that its creation "combined several existing military units such as the Media Operations Group and the 15 Psychological Operations Group" (see Media Operations Group (V) and 15 (UK) Psychological Operations Group).[6] Declassified UK reported in 2020 that the Media Operations Group had been one of four units merged to form the brigade, in which it "was called its 'Number 5 Column'". The same article reported that Nick Carter had been appointed the group's "Honorary Colonel Commandant" in 2012.[7] In June 2020 an Army Freedom of Information reply listed the brigade's groups as the Defence Cultural Specialist Unit, a Task Group, a Digital Operations Group, an Outreach Group and an Engineer & Logistic Staff Corps Group.[8]
No official source found explains the number "5" or links 5 IOTF to the earlier No. 5 Column, to 15 (UK) Psychological Operations Group or to any particular earlier group of the brigade.
Future Soldier restructuring
The British Army's Future Soldier Guide of November 2021 showed the units of 77th Brigade by role rather than by number. It listed a "Deployed Information Activities" unit and a "Stand-off Information Activities" unit, each to be restructured by August 2022 and each with the "Future Station: Hermitage until 2026, then Pirbright", alongside The Staff Corps, 6 Military Intelligence Battalion and the Honourable Artillery Company.[9] The guide gave the brigade's headquarters as "Hermitage until 2026, then Pirbright".[9] The Army's later description of 5 IOTF as the "highly deployable" element and of 101 IOTF as the "stand-off" element matches those two roles.[1]
The Army's 77th Brigade page, as archived in October 2025, gave the brigade's address as "Denison Barracks, Hermitage, Thatcham, RG18 9TP" (see Denison Barracks).[10] No official source found says whether 5 IOTF moved to Pirbright.
Transfer to the Land Special Operations Force
A Freedom of Information request of 29 May 2026 quoted an earlier Army refusal (ArmySec/FOI2026/09068) as saying that "77 Brigade no longer exists as a formed unit within Defence". The Army's reply of 23 June 2026 said that the resubordination of 77th Brigade to the Land Special Operations Force, effective on 14 April 2026, "was directed under 'Army Implementation Order B-26-032 – Reorganisation of Land Special Operations'".[2] It said that 5 Information Operations Task Force, 101 Information Operations Task Force and 6 Military Intelligence Battalion now sit under "Headquarters Land Special Operations Force (LSOF)", and listed "5 Information Operations Task Force" among LSOF's units "As of 1 May 2026". It added that "the resubordination did not result in any changes to the location, responsibility or recruitment of the former 77 Brigade subordinate units".[2]
Renaming as an Information Warfare Battalion
By 16 September 2026 the Army listed the unit as "5 IWB". Asked whether "Cognitive Warfare Group" was the formal title of an LSOF formation, the Army replied:
- This is not a recognised or endorsed naming convention for any formation. The units that would comprise this specialism are recognised as the Information Warfare Battalions (IWB), this refers to 101 IWB and 5 IWB that sit within the Land Special Operations Force (LSOF) structure.[3]
The two replies thus place the change of name between 1 May and 16 September 2026. No official order or date for the renaming has been found.
Insignia
Personnel of the Land Special Operations Force wear "the LSOF grey beret with their parent cap badge and the LSOF flash on the left shoulder, while the right shoulder displays the insignia of their unit or parent brigade". The September 2026 reply added that personnel of 101 IWB and 5 IWB "who have completed the mandated initial trade training will be authorised to wear an 'Information Warfare' badge. The badge design has not yet been formally endorsed; however, the intention is to establish it as a new TRF in due course."[3]
People
| Name | Role | Dates | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Donaghy | Commanding Officer, 5 Information Operations Task Force | 2026 | Riga StratCom Dialogue 2026 speaker page[11] |
The speaker page for the 2026 Riga StratCom Dialogue, a conference run by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, describes Oliver Donaghy as "Commanding Officer 5 Information Operations Task Force, British Army" and says that he "commands the UK's 5th Information Operations Task Force within the British Army's Land Special Operations Force (formerly 77th Brigade)". It says he "started his strategic communications career in a psychological operations role in 2009", led information operations planning in the UK's Joint Force Headquarters, project-managed "the 77th Brigade capability in the Army Headquarters", and "from 2023-25 was responsible for strategic communications plans in support of Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic area in the Ministry of Defence" (see Ministry of Defence). It gives him a master's degree in strategic communication from King's College London and "deployed experience from Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria and Eastern Europe". He was listed for a session titled "The Cognitive Frontline: Offensive Influence Operations and Targeting" on 3 June 2026.[11]
See also
- 101 Information Warfare Battalion
- Information Warfare Battalion
- Land Special Operations Force
- 77th Brigade
- 6 Military Intelligence Battalion
- 15 (UK) Psychological Operations Group
- Media Operations Group (V)
- Joint Information Activities Group
- Military Strategic Effects
- British Military Intelligence
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 British Army, 77th Brigade Groups army.mod.uk, archived 22 February 2026 by the Wayback Machine, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Army Policy and Secretariat, LSOF and former 77 Brigade Freedom of Information response ArmySec/FOI2026/10971, 23 June 2026, via WhatDoTheyKnow, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Army Policy and Secretariat, Land Special Operations Force organisation, nomenclature and formation insignia Freedom of Information response Army/PolSec/FOI2026/17115, 16 September 2026, via WhatDoTheyKnow, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ British Army, 77th Brigade Groups army.mod.uk, archived 6 November 2024 by the Wayback Machine, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Ewen MacAskill, British army creates team of Facebook warriors The Guardian, 31 January 2015, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Ian Cobain, Twitter executive for Middle East is British Army 'psyops' soldier Middle East Eye, 30 September 2019, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Chris King and David Miller, UK information operations in the time of coronavirus Declassified UK, 30 September 2020, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Army Secretariat, Freedom of Information response Army/Sec/21/02/FOI2020/06197 23 June 2020, via WhatDoTheyKnow, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 British Army, Future Soldier Guide 25 November 2021, pp. 74–75, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ British Army, 77th Brigade Information Operations army.mod.uk, archived 8 October 2025 by the Wayback Machine, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Riga StratCom Dialogue, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Donaghy rigastratcomdialogue.org, speaker page for the 3–4 June 2026 conference, accessed 2 November 2026.