A drone flying into a building to scan the area for a potential enemy before troops enter the building, during Exercise Wessex Storm. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
To test new capabilities and innovative equipment as part of the Army’s Future Soldier programme, soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Royal Yorkshire Regiment were restructured as the Next Generation Combat Team (NGCT) and engaged in the experimental exercise known as Wessex Storm on the Salisbury Plain Training Area, it was announced on May 24.
A new unmanned wheeled vehicle that can mount various weapon systems as seen here with a 50 caliber machine gun and rocket launchers, deployed during Exercise Wessex Storm. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
Over the past year, the Experimentation and Trials Group (ETG) has successfully integrated all of the British Army’s Trial and Development Units and operates them through the NGCT as a Battalion of experimentation.
An NGCT sniper tests out the new urban ghillie suit during Exercise Wessex Storm. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
NGCT soldiers had previously deployed to the Urban Phalanx study, in April 2023, where the DSTL tested a number of concepts to achieve small unit dominance in future urban combat for dismounted light forces.
Here, the ETG experimented with an NGCT based on a maneuver support group and two Phalanx platoons of 38, each Phalanx platoon consisting of three ten-person sections, as well as a platoon commander, a sergeant of platoon, a platoon systems operator, and a shoulder-launched rocket team armed with a Carl-Gustaf weapon system providing anti-armour/anti-structure capability.
The Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System has been adapted to be mounted on a Jackal to aid agility, deployed during Operation Wessex Storm on Salisbury Plain training area. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
During Exercise Wessex Storm, the soldiers were integrated as Phalanx Platoon into the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Battlegroup under a new concept developed by the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) . The NGCT, centered around the Phalanx platoons, showcased newly developed structures, tactics, techniques, and procedures to determine their effectiveness against the current army.
NGCT troops wait with a casualty dummy to be lifted by a heavy lifting drone during Exercise Wessex Storm. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
A Phalanx platoon section of the type operating in Urban Phallanx consisted of two fire teams, each consisting of four members, a section commander and a systems operator to employ drones and an intelligence kit. It was demonstrated in Exercise Urban Phalanx that the command element elevated the situational element from the rest of the section and removed the systems operator from the fire team to focus on controlling small Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Dismounted Situational Awareness (DSA) update. This provides better situational awareness to the section commander and platoon headquarters, suggesting that the adoption of new technologies yields results in a joint operations environment.
An unmanned remote camera system which can be used to spy on or clear corridors and rooms, deployed during Exercise Wessex Storm. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
According to Colonel Toby Till of the ETG, the structure of the NGCT during Wessex Storm consisted of an infantry element at its core, serving as the basis for a wide range of all arms capabilities, then comprising Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery and half a squadron. of Household Cavalry “for the mounted close combat element”, to showcase combat operational capabilities, as well as a range of other capabilities that can be used throughout the force.
An unmanned missile aircraft which can come in 2 sizes depending on the size of explosives and flight power required, deployed during Exercise Wessex Storm, , when NGCT capabilities were tested. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
“Our role in accelerating the modernization of the British Army is to try to grab those technologies which some people think are in the future, which are really here and now and bring them into the field army as quickly as possible. possible, by proving their usefulness during exercises. like Wessex Storm,” Colonel Till said.
A new unmanned tracked vehicle that can mount various weapon systems as seen here with a 50 caliber machine gun and rocket launchers, deployed during Exercise Wessex Storm. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
“We started at the lightweight end of the capability spectrum,” Till added, “and developed a lightweight NGCT, with enhanced sensors, decision making and lethal effectors through the integration of the Human Machine Teaming project from D Futures and situational awareness on foot. program for D programs.
A remote controlled missile launcher capable of launching up to 4 mini missiles, deployed during Exercise Wessex Storm. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
Wessex Storm saw the NGCT deployed with unmanned aerial systems, unmanned ground sensors, unmanned aerial and ground vehicles and loiter munitions. In an effort to improve command and control at the company level, the NGTC has engaged in exercises utilizing the latest generation night sighting capabilities and systems, as well as communications systems that facilitate the system improved situational awareness on foot.
A mounted unmanned vehicle with a .50 caliber machine gun deployed during Exercise WESSEX STORM on the Salisbury Plain training area. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
According to Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Wade-Smith, Commanding Officer of the Second Battalion of the Royal Yorkshire Regiment, the integration of contemporary technology and knowledge from industry associates was crucial: “But so is maximizing the advantage through human ability and optimize combat. the lethality of the soldier thanks to his physical and psychological preparation.
A new ground-based sensor that is being tested to detect movement in areas that are blind spots for troops as early warnings of potential enemy activity, deployed during Exercise Wessex Storm, when NGCT capabilities were tested. Photo by Corporal Nathan Tanuku / UK MOD © Crown Copyright 2023, MOD News License.
“Objectively and compared to a traditional rifle platoon, I think we can confidently predict that we can find the enemy faster, decide which capability will neutralize the enemy faster, and then deploy those combined arms assets with the most high lethality so that the British army can fight and win on the first try.
